Seventeen Minutes
by queenofthenile91
Summary: Seventeen minutes will now be forever known as the Forks High School Massacre. It only took seventeen minutes for a lone gunman to kill eleven students and two staff members as well as leave numerous others injured. It was only seventeen minutes, but its survivors have scars that will last a lifetime.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: In addition to being a little on the long side, this prologue depicts the fictionalized events of a school shooting. If you don't want to read, feel free to skip ahead but the events of his prologue will be important to the rest of the story as follows. There will be a lot of angst and definitely some violence in the beginning.**_  
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* * *

_And nobody's gonna go to school today,_

_She's going to make them stay at home._

_And daddy doesn't understand it,_

_He always said she was as good as gold._

_And he can see no reason_

_'Cause there are no reasons_

_What reason do you need to be shown?_

_Tell me why?_

_I don't like Mondays._

_"I Don't Like Mondays" by the Boomtown Rats_

* * *

_Monday, April 14, 2008_

_6:30 a.m. – Salmon River Trailer Park outside Forks, WA_

The shrill alarm went off, waking him from his slept. He groaned, rolled out of bed and wiped his eyes. Looking out of his window, he sighed. Today was the day. Sitting up on his bed, he found his phone on the table beside him. Flipping it opened, he dialed the familiar number, held the phone up to his ear and listened. It rang four times.

"_This is Vicky! I'm not able to get to the phone or I just want to talk right now. So, leave a message!" _

He cursed under his breath and then reached under his bed, pulling out the two Glocks his father had left in the unlocked gun safe. Making sure they were both ready to go, he placed them on the table and then quickly got ready. His mom was still asleep. She wouldn't have to wake up and get his sister Morgan to school for another fifteen minutes. His dad was sleeping off another hangover in the living room recliner with the TV on. Fully dressed, he slipped on the silencer. It was now 6:45 a.m.

Cautiously, he slipped from his room, careful not to make any noise or wake anyone up. He crept into his sister's room but found she wasn't there. She had probably crept into his parents' room to sleep with his mother after another long night of his father throwing things around the house. He stalked down the hallway to his parents' bedroom where he found his mother and sister curled together in his parents' bed. Cocking the gun, he placed the cold muzzle centimeters above his mother's head and shot. His sister stirred and, brushing back her soft, golden curls from her face, he shot again. It was quick and painless for both of them.

Turning, he crept back into the living room. His father was still asleep, beer bottles piling up around the recliner, the TV on some infomercial for balding me. Cold and calculating, he stuck the muzzle of the gun right up against his father's forehead. The man's eyes opened just in time for him to shoot three quick shots. He wiped his hand off on the recliner to get rid of the remaining blood. He set the guns on the coffee table and then walked into the kitchen, got out a bowl and starting making himself a bowl of cereal for breakfast.

* * *

_7:15 a.m._

Breakfast complete, he stuck his bowl of cereal in the sink and then began packing the car. He reloaded the two Glocks he had used that morning as well as his father's Beretta and Magnum before placing them in his black backpack. He made sure there would be plenty of bullets in the bag as well. He had done his math homework the night before, but decided against packing it as well.

He sat down on the couch, right across from where his father's lifeless body still sat on the recliner. Flipping open his phone, he called Vicky's number again. This time, the phone stopped ringing after three rings. She was up. She was ignoring him. He cursed under his breath.

Things had changed so much since that asshole Larry Belancourt had moved to town. Suddenly, he was possessive and gross. Suddenly, Vicky no longer wanted to creep back into the trailer park at night after smoking a bag or make love in the backseat of his old Chevy Nova. Suddenly, Vicky was too good for him. She was Larry's girl now and all the popularity that came with it. He was no one. He was lower than dirt. He was the target. No. He wasn't the target. Today, they were the targets. He smirked to himself.

* * *

_7:30 a.m._

He sat in the driveway, the radio blasting "I Don't Like Mondays" by the Boomtown Rats. He gripped the steering wheel and the looked at the backpack in the seat beside him. He sighed and then pulled out his phone again. One more time. He was going to give her one more time to call everything off. He dialed her number slowly and listened. It only rang two times before it stopped. She had ignored him again. He thought about texting her and then decided against her. He wondered if she was with _him_. Angrily, he threw his phone down into the floor of the passenger's side. Forks High School wouldn't know what hit it.

* * *

_7:40 a.m. – Forks High School_

With ten minutes left until the first bell, the students of Forks High School milled throughout the campus. It was an unusually warm and sunny morning in the tiny town. Prom would be the next week and girls gossiped out their dresses and their dates. There was only about a month of classes left before graduation. Seniors would be picking up their graduation gowns. Yearbooks would be in a matter of days. The year was winding down, but there was still so much energy in the air.

Bella Swan stood in front of her locker with her best friend Alice Brandon, pulling books out for her first few classes of the morning. Alice's little sister Cynthia was nearby giggling with a couple of her freshmen friends. Alice was again going on and on about her crush on Jasper Whitlock. Bella didn't really get it. Alice was pretty arty, but Jasper Whitlock was full-on goth. He always wore black, never seemed to wash his string blonde hair and painted his nails black. Occasionally, he even wore eye liner.

"Bella, are you even listening to me?" Alice huffed.

"Huh?" Bella asked.

"What up losers?" Victoria Katz sneered from behind them.

Bella looked up quietly, not sure what to say. It was rare the Queen Bee of Forks High School addressed any of the peons. Of course, Victoria hadn't been popular until last year when she started going out with Larry, the school's quarterback. Behind her were Tanya Dezhnev, a pretty blonde junior who had moved from Alaska in the middle of the first semester of sophomore year. Tanya had been quiet and shy the first semester, but she came back that January with huge boobs. There were also rumors she had gone to her mother's native Russia to model over the break. Suddenly she was popular and mean to Bella and Alice. Jane Stanwick was there to, a pretty brunette whose father bought her a BMW for her sweet sixteen. She had promptly crashed it. Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory rounded out the Bitch Crew, as Alice usually referred to them.

"Shouldn't you be in the nurse's station getting tested?" Alice shot back.

"Oh look, it's Marilyn Manson," Victoria said, turning her focus. Jasper didn't hear her from where he was down the hallway, rocking out on his headphones. "The two of you sacrifice any bats lately?"

"Come on, Alice, we should get to class," Bella said, wanting to avoid further confrontation. Seeing she had made her mark, Victoria turned and walked off to go terrorize someone else. With her gone, the crew of senior guys tromped into the hallway.

Royce King and Larry Belancourt were cackling about something. Mike Newton didn't seem to get the joke, but was laughing anyway. Bella felt the world go in slow motion as they walked past Edward Cullen, the chess club nerd who had dated Tanya for about three weeks until she got tits and decided she was too good for a mathlete. Without flinching, Royce placed her hand the back of Edward's hand and promptly pushed him into his locker. Edward started to protest before Royce shoved the locker door shut. The three guys cackled and then Larry stalked over to Vicky with almost a predatory gleam. Sticking one hand under her short shirt and on her ass and the other on her waist, the two of them started Frenching. It was disgusting.

"I can't believe them," Alice sighed. She turned and glanced at Jasper, who had watched the whole scene and was now silently putting his headphones in the top of his locker.

Bella looked down the hall where Emmett McCarty was cracking up with Eric Yorkie and Tyler Crowley. Emmett was a big beefy linebacker, but never hung out with the other team guys like Larry, Royce in Mike. Instead, he hung out with Eric and Tyler, his same friends since elementary school. Eric was the student body representative for the junior class and Tyler was sort of a class clown. It was a strange combination. On the other side of the hall, the stunning Amazon figure of Rosalie Hale stalked down the hallway. Victoria and the rest of her friends coughed "slut" as she passed, but Rosalie ignored them. Bella didn't think it was fair that Rose had gotten labeled as the school slut. Her reputation had been cemented after she broke up with Royce, disappeared for three months, and then came back a little skinner than before and apparently dating some guy in college.

"I've got to go the bathroom," Alice said. "See you in second period?"

"Sure," Bella nodded as her friend slipped off. The sharp banging on the locker in front of her caught Bella's intention. Stepping forward, she opened up the locker and found a very flustered Edward Cullen inside, his glasses sideways and his hair a mess.

"Thanks," Edward said.

"Sure," Bella whispered. "Sorry about that."

"I'm used to it," Edward shrugged, stepping out of the locker.

"See you around," Bella whispered before going off to her first period. The bell rang and students began filing into their respective home rooms for the morning announcements.

* * *

_8:06 a.m._

He entered the building. Announcements had just started. He was late for class, but it didn't matter. It would be five minutes before the bell for first period rang. He had that long to set up, to get in position for his final plan. Of course, there was one major obstacle: the front office. The principal was hardly ever in his office, preferring to roam the school rather than take phone calls from parents with a question about their kid's chemistry grade or why their child was getting detention for being late. However, Shelley Cope was always there at the front office and seemed to know all the kids. He knew she would probably wave him in and ask for his late pass, full well knowing he didn't have one. Unzipping his backpack, he slipped the two Glocks into his pocket and pulled out the Magnum, fixing it with the silencer. He didn't want to set the alarm before he had a chance to exact his revenge.

He stalked into the office and found Shelly Cope just hanging up the phone. Her auburn hair had touches of gray to it and she was wearing the same horned-rimmed glasses she had probably worn since she was in high school herself. Every knew her husband – a successful used car dealer – had left her for his secretary fifteen years before and Shelley Cope now lived on her own with two cats in a Victorian house with a small garden downtown. She smiled up at him, knowing his reputation for being late.

"Do you need a late pass Mr. Hunter?" she asked cheerfully.

Quickly, he lifted the magnum up straight, even with her head. Her mouth gaping wide, Shelley Cope had no time to react as the student shot her twice. One bullet scraped above her ear, lodging in her head and the other lodging between her shoulder and neck. Turning swiftly, he went to get in position for when Vicky came out of her first period. Her locker was right by the boy's bathroom and he knew she always went to it right after first period to touch up her makeup.

* * *

_8:07 a.m._

Turning the corner, he found the Spanish teacher, Ms. Goff heading back from the teacher's longue with a cup of coffee in her hands. She looked over at him, not seeing the gun at his side.

"What are you doing? Shouldn't you be in…" she began. She didn't have time to finish. He shot her three times in succession in the head. Cursing, he dragged the body back into the teachers' longue and left it there. He hoped no one would notice the blood stain or dropped cup of coffee on the ground. With her hidden, he headed toward the men's room.

It took a second after Shelley Cope's eyes fluttered open for her to remember why she was on the office floor. She could feel the blood trickling down the side of her face. The pain was excruciating. Her heartbeat was pounding in her ears. She had to protect the students. With an unknown rush of energy, she managed to pull the phone down off her desk. Pulling it over, she dialed.

"_Clallam County 911. What is your emergency?" _

"This is Shelley Cope," she sputtered out. "I'm a secretary at Forks High School. There's a gunman on campus."

"_A gunman, ma'am?"_

"I've been shot," Shelley managed to sputter out. "Please, hurry." She didn't hear the response. She was enveloped in black.

* * *

_8:08 a.m._

It had been a calm morning at the Forks Police Department. No calls had come in so far. With a sigh, Chief Charlie Swan poured himself a cup of coffee and nodded at the front desk secretary. He and Renee had an appointment that week with their marriage counselor. Renee had begun an affair with Phil Dwyer, the baseball coach at the high school, which had lasted six months. Renee had confessed after thinking she was pregnant. Their 16-year-old daughter Bella didn't know.

"_Calling all officers in the area. Paging all officers. We have reports of shots fired at Forks High School. Shots fired at Forks High School. At least one subject down."_

As he ran toward his cruiser, all Charlie Swan could do was pray his daughter was safe.

* * *

_8:09 a.m._

Walking into the boy's room, he was surprised to find the subjects of his torture all there. Larry was smoking a joint and Royce appeared to be pretty blazed out of his mind. Mike was next in line, his beady eyes moving around. His parents would freak out if they knew what he was doing. Their sweet, upstanding young son could never fall in with a bad crowd. He reached for the joint from Larry at the same time they all heard footfalls in the boy's room.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Little Jimmy," Royce smirked.

"Shut up Royce," he grimaced, holding the gun tightly from behind his back.

"Coming in to flog your log?" Larry smirked. "We should probably scat, boys. Don't want him thinking about one of us when he goes in there."

"Hey, Larry, what was that you were telling me earlier? About Vick and her tongue?" Royce smirked.

"So, Vicky is sucking my dick," Larry said, throwing a glance at Jimmy, "because, you know, mine's big enough for her to find unlike some people…" Mike couldn't help but notice that Jimmy seemed to be physically shaking.

"What's up man?" Mike asked. Quickly, he pulled the gun out from behind his back. Two shots to Mike's head.

"Dude…" Larry began, glancing at Mike's now bloodied body on the bathroom floor.

"What the…" Royce began. He didn't finish. Three bullets to the head. Larry walked backward, his hands up in surrender.

"Come on, man, chill out… we're cool, right?" Larry begged. He smirked, two shots to the head, one to the neck. With Larry on the floor, he stood over him and placed one shot straight to the forehead. Walking over to Royce, he did another execution style shot. They wouldn't be bothering him anymore. He threw the magnum down on the ground.

* * *

_8:10 a.m._

The bell rang. Students filtered into the hallways. No one knew about the body stashed in the teacher's longue or the main boy's restroom. No one knew Shelley Cope was bleeding out on the floor below her desk. His shirt now with splatters of blood across it, he emerged from the boy's bathroom. Vicky wasn't at her locker yet, but a couple of guys were heading into the bathroom. He couldn't let them see.

"Dude… is that..?" One of them asked. He didn't know who Austin Marks was but he shot him point blank in the head anyway.

"Oh my…" Tyler Crowley hung around Emmett McCarty enough. He didn't want the alarm raised, but he had left he silencer behind. He shot Tyler twice in the leg. A small sophomore girl screamed and the hallway froze, seeing the two boys on the floor. Without flinching, he put the gun to the girl's head. June Richardson slumped to the floor, a bullet in her frontal lobe.

"He's got a gun!" Crowley screamed. He kicked Crowley in the stomach as the school descended into chaos, students running toward classrooms, the library and the cafeteria. He cursed. This would make finding Vicky that much harder.

* * *

_8:11 a.m._

_James Hunter has a gun. James Hunter has a gun._

The phrase repeated in Bella Swan's mind over and over again. She had to find somewhere to hide. Somewhere he couldn't find her. She found herself racing down a corner of a hallway. All of the classroom doors were being locked. She panicked. Next thing she knew, she was being pulled into a small alcove and up onto a stairwell to the second floor. She looked up only to find Edward Cullen standing with her, his finger pushed to his lips asking for silence. Standing beside Edward was Riley Biers, a small sophomore who was picked on after he came out of the closet freshman year. He was shivering and crying. Edward shrugged his shoulders at Bella.

Alice Brandon didn't know her best friend was a matter of feet down the hallway, hiding on the stairwell. She found herself slumped behind a vending machine, hoping he wouldn't find her. Her thoughts were racing. Where was her little sister? Was Cynthia safe? Had he killed anyone? Did the police know? How where they going to get out of this. Tears slipping down her face she looked across the hall to find Jasper Whitlock crouched behind the soda machine directly across the hall. He caught her eye. His eyes were grim, but he offered a comforting smile.

Benjamin Cheney wouldn't have believed anyone who told him he would be spending the better part of his morning cuddled up with his longtime crush Angela Webber. Of course, the situation was hardly anything but romantic. The two of them were student workers in the library first period. With the librarian out at a staff meeting somewhere, it was he and Angela who had corralled students in the library copy room, locking the door and cutting off the lights.

As he looked around, Ben couldn't help but notice the diversity of the student body all shaking, crying and cowering together. He was under a table, a comforting arm around Angela. Rose Hale, who had the reputation for being a slut was calming sitting with her back to the copy machine. Alec Stanwick, the nerdy brother Jane would never admit was her twin was scratching his arms nervously. A group of freshmen who were in the library to work on history research paper were gathered together. One he recognized as his classmate Alice's sisters were crowded together.

Glen Berty had locked the door to his classroom and turned off the lights. He surveyed the small group of students he had herded into his room for protection during the class change. It was a mix of seniors who were early to class and random students he had never seen. Things like this weren't supposed to happen in small towns like Forks.

* * *

_8:11 a.m._

He found her, cowering like the bitch she was outside the girl's bathroom. She was crying, makeup streaming down her face. Looking up at him, begging him.

"Please, Jimmy, don't do this…" Vicky pleaded. "Please! We can make it work! Please, I'll do anything?"

"Suck my dick, Vicky," he snarled before deliver a succession of shots to her body. Sprawled on the ground, he delivered one final shot to her head, right between her pretty eyes. Hearing sniffles, he turned around. Some small sophomore he didn't recognize was standing there, crying. He didn't know why she was hanging around with Victoria.

"Please don't hurt me," Samantha Wells begged. She still earned two shots to the head. She was of no consequence.

* * *

_8:13 a.m._

Within minutes, Charlie Swan found himself in the parking lot of Forks High School. He didn't even remember the drive. His entire force was on scene as where the Sheriff's, the local state police, some officers from the Quiluete Tribal Police, even a few of the National Park Rangers were in back.

"You're in charge her, Charlie," Sergeant Jenkins with the state police told him, "But I do have confirmation the FBI, ATF and their Swat Teams are on their way. They should be here any minute."

"I don't want to go in yet," Charlie admitted. "We aren't equipped for this sort of thing. We don't know who this person is or what they want. I just can't… my daughter's in there… I don't know what we should do."

"I understand," Jenkins nodded.

Feet away, James heard hushed whispers in the girl's room. Stalking in, he found Victoria's new so-called friends, the ones who had made her leave him. The ones who teased him in the hall. The ones who had started the rumors about him and the Biers kid.

"Jimmy…" Tanya mouthed. _Slut_, he thought.

"Down on the ground," he ordered grittily. "On your knees like the whores you are…"

"Jimmy…" Jane began.

"I said DOWN!" he screamed. They both did as he asked, sniffling, walking behind them, he shot both of them both in the back of the head and upper back until he ran out of bullets. With a gasp, he found a tiny wisp of a girl hiding in the bathroom with them. He shot her once and then left. Bree Tanner sank into darkness beside two girls she had never exchanged two words with.

In the hallway, he searched around. Most of the rooms were locked and shut. Looking around, he saw Eric Yorkie and some kid he didn't recognize attempting to hide behind the lockers. He walked over to them a grin on his face. Yorkie held up his hands defensively.

"It's okay, Jimmy… we're cool, right?" Eric asked worriedly. He shot him twice, but Eric raised his hands up to defend himself. Sinking back against his locker, Eric clutched his arm as Lee Stephens bolted, attempting to make a run for the front door. Jimmy shot him and then discarded then pulled back to reload.

* * *

_8:14 a.m._

Though the classrooms were locked, he knew the biology room never stayed that way. He also knew that asshole Banner had called his parents when he stopped showing up to class and bombed his last test. His dad had beaten him raw that night. Stalking forward, he jiggled the door until it opened. Bob Banner knew this might happen.

"Run," He ordered his students then rushed to hold the door shut.

"Dr. Banner…" one of the students began.

"I said run damn it!" He screamed, attempting to hold the door shut as Hunter did his best to force it open. When the last of his students managed to scramble out the door, his strength gave out. The door was forced open followed by a blaze of gunfire. As he bled to death on his classroom floor, he could only think how incredibly bright things were.

* * *

_8:15 a.m._

A group of twenty students came rushing forward. Officers ordered their hands up in the air and the crying, scared students were more than willing to comply. Charlie Swan wiped his brow. Maybe the kids would know more about this. The SWAT team still wasn't there and they didn't have the equipment to enter the school. The first few parents would be arriving now. There was no doubt in Charlie Swan's mind kids were texting and emailing their parents away. The first news van pulled on to campus.

"Sir, they're saying it's a student. Senior. His name is James Hunter," one of his officers informed Charlie. "He shot a teacher… and at least three or four students. He apparently has several weapons and a backpack…"

"Go check his house," Charlie ordered. "I want a team to go check his house. Talk with his parents. See if they know what is going on."

* * *

_8:16 a.m._

He jiggled the doors, but Berty and Mason's rooms wouldn't open. There didn't seem to be anyone inside. He cursed himself. There was only one way out now. In a hail of bullets. He walked forward. He didn't know where the rest of Vicky's friends were hiding or the other target on his list. Charlie Swan had always overlooked his cries for help, had never put his father in jail. He said it was the system. Maybe it was time Charlie Swan learned a little about what happened when the system failed you.

* * *

_8:17 a.m._

"Are you at the house?" Charlie Swan asked over the radio.

"_Yeah but you aren't gonna want to hear this chief…"_

"What is it? What did they say?"

"_They aren't going to say anything, Chief. They're dead. The whole family. Shot his mom and sister in the bed and his dad in the recliner_._ Gun safe has been opened. Completely empty. There's at least room for six weapons in here and tons of ammo_."

"Shit," Charlie Swan sighed.

* * *

_8:18 a.m._

It was pure luck that Jessica and Lauren thought it was safe to come out of their hiding spots in the women's restroom. How cold and calculating they were, keeping silent and hidden in the stalls as they listened to their two supposed best friends getting shot down outside. They stopped with deer in the headlights looks as they found Jimmy, grinning up at them. Lauren, like Lee, started to run. He shot her down with three bullets to her spin. Seeing Vicky's body, Jessica lost it and started sobbing, backing up against the lockers beside him. He shot her in the torso and again in the head as she began to slip downward.

* * *

_8:19 a.m._

Walking down the hallway, he wasn't prepared for Jasper Whitlock to emerge from behind the soda machine, pushing him down to the ground and attempting to wrestle the gun away from him.

"Stop! Stop!" Alice Brandon screamed.

"Why are you doing this Jimmy? Why are you doing this?" Jasper asked Jimmy repeatedly. Jasper looked at him weakly.

The two had been friends briefly before Victoria broke up with him, but Jimmy had distanced himself. Jimmy didn't want to address his old friend. He had to get Jasper off him. He fired several times blindly as the two wrestled before throwing away the gun. Jasper slumped down on the ground in shock. As he stood up and walked away, Alice screamed and rushed over to where Jasper was sitting on the floor, clutching his arm.

* * *

"The SWAT Team is here, Chief," one of the officers informed him. They were all waiting for Charlie Swan's signal.

"Send them in."

* * *

_8:20 a.m._

Turning, he found here standing there on the stairwell with Cullen and the Biers kid, the same one Larry and Royce used to say he was gay for. He grimaced and slipped the Beretta out of his backpack, pointing it right at Bella Swan's trembling lips.

"Why are you doing this, Jimmy?" Bella begged.

"You know your dad never charged him?" he informed her. "Called out to our house night after night after night. Beer cans everywhere. My mom broken and bleeding on the floor. But he never charged with abuse. Just took him in, let him sleep it off in the drunk tank and then send him back home."

"I'm sorry, Jimmy," Bella whispered. "I can talk to him for you? Fix things?"

"It's too late," he hissed.

"No… no, it's not too late…" Bella insisted.

"It's too late," Jimmy growled, "because I already shot my old man myself." He pulled the trigger just as Bella screamed and Edward Cullen pushed her out of the way. Riley Biers took the opportunity pushing past James Hunter and running. He only made it a few steps before he was cut down by bullets.

He turned back to Swan and Cullen where they were sitting on the floor of the stairwell landing. Swan was crying like a little bitch and Cullen was cursing, clutching his bleeding arm. He cocked the gun again, ready to hit her, but was forced down. He hadn't seen Emmett McCarty hiding behind the trophy case behind them all. In fact, Bella and Edward weren't momentarily in shock as to how large Emmett McCarty could hide so well. Emmett and James wrestled for the gun, bullets being shot. With a rush of energy, Edward jumped up and joined the fray, afraid that James might somehow overpower the huge Emmett. More shots were fired.

Alerted to the sound, the SWAT team rushed forward and around corners of the school's halls, determined to find where the gunman was.

* * *

_8:21 a.m._

McCarty and Cullen were both on the floor and bleeding. Bella Swan was backed up against a wall, crying. It was his chance. Except there were a large amount of footsteps behind him. He turned around to find the SWAT guys in full riot gear.

"Put down the weapon, son," one of the masked men ordered.

He smirked at them.

"Put down the gun, son," he ordered again. Smirking, Jimmy rushed up the stairs and out of site.

The larger amount of the group rushed up after him, while others stayed back. One was checking over Riley Biers. Two others had grabbed Edward and Emmett, helping to stop their bleeding. Bella found one standing above her.

"Are you okay, sweetheart? Are you hurt?" he asked. Bella shook her head.

"My Dad? My dad's Chief Charlie Swan…" she choked.

"He's outside."

* * *

_8:22 a.m._

A hail of bullets echoed from the second floor. Bella sucked in a sharp breath and then focused as the radio on one of the SWAT guys crackled to life.

"_The gunman is down. Repeat. The gunman is down."_

"_We've got a lot of wounded kids in here."_

"Please," Bella said, looking around as the SWAT guys started helping Emmett and Edward to their feet. "Please, take me to my Daddy…."

* * *

**End Notes:**

_The first American school shooting occurred on July 26, 1764 when four Lenape American Indians entered a schoolhouse in Greencastle, Pa. and shot and killed the school master and several children. On Nov. 2, 1853, student Matthew Ward showed up to his school in Louisville, Ky. And shot and killed the schoolmaster for bullying students._

_The song Jimmy is listening to is "I Don't Like Mondays" by the Boomtown Rats which was inspired by Brenda Ann Spencer who injured nine and killed two when she shot at an elementary school across from her home in San Diego. When asked why she did it, Spencer replied "I don't like Mondays. It was just a way to liven up the day." Spencer later admitted she was under the influence of LSD, alcohol and had been repeatedly sexually abused by her father._

_The character of Dr. Banner is an amalgamation of Dave Sanders, a teacher at Columbine who did his best to evacuate students before being shot himself during the Columbine school shooting, and Liviu Librescu, a Holocaust survivor and a professor at Virginia Tech who forcibly held back the door of his classroom to allow his students to escape the gunman on campus. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to my new beta dowlingnana**

* * *

_Revenge... is like a rolling stone, which, when a man hath forged up a hill, will return upon him with a greater violence, and break those bones whose sinews gave it motion. - Albert Schweitzer, German theologian and philosopher_

* * *

_Monday, April 14, 2008_

_8:25 a.m. – Forks High School_

The Forks High School Parking Lot was to capacity with ambulances from all over. The call had been sent out to the Forks Community minutes after police had arrived on the scene. It looked like they would definitely need them. Charlie Swan sighed as he heard the results over the window. So far, the team on the inside had found numerous wounded. The gunman was the only one confirmed dead. He dispatched officers inside to go room by room and help the kids out. Already, the SWAT team was coming out with a group of injured young people.

The first was Eric Yorkie, his arm bleeding profusely. He heard them radio in for multiple stretchers and watched as the EMTs followed into the school right after the officers had done their security sweeps. Slowly, groups of students began flowing out of the school. Parents had been ordered to wait at the nearby Forks Middle School. All the schools in the town had been on lock down since the first 911 call. The feds knew how this worked and Charlie Swan was more than happy to let them take over. He leaned against his police cruiser.

He had heard all the news stories and shook his head at them. Towns like Jonesboro, Arkansas; Pearl, Mississippi and Conyers, Georgia seemed so far away. Towns like Springfield, Oregon; Littleton Colorado, and Red Lake, Minnesota had now hit closer to home. The Amish shooting in Nickel Mines and the college campus of Virginia Tech made him wonder where in the world was it safe. Today, he knew that place was not the quaint town of Forks, the place he had made his home, raised his family and thought would never be touched by such evil.

"Sir… we tried to stop her… she hit one of the officers in the solar plexus…" an officer began. Charlie Swan turned over to see Esme Cullen barreling toward him.

"My son… is he okay?"

"Esme, we are asking parents to wait for news of their children at the middle school…" Charlie began.

"Carlisle called me from the hospital… he said they were prepping… there was a shooting at the high school…" Esme pleaded.

"Esme…" Charlie Swan sighed. "Esme, I don't even know where my Bella is." He did his best to put his arm around her and comfort her. Then, looking up, Charlie Swan saw the most beautiful sight in the world.

There, with a SWAT official supporting her was his daughter. Her face was red and splotchy from crying. Her hair was a mess. There were blood stains on her pink Hello Kitty shirt. Grappling away from the officer, she rushed from the front door of the building and into her father's waiting arms.

"Daddy," Bella coughed out before burying her head in his uniform.

"Baby girl," he whispered. He pulled back to get a good look at her face, almost afraid it was a dream. He saw the blood again. "God, Bells, you're bleeding."

"It's not my blood," Bella sobbed. "It's not mine…"

"Then who's…" Charlie began only to look up and see two stretchers being rolled out. Linebacker Emmett McCarty was on one. Edward Cullen was on the other. Lifting her hand to her mouth, Esme let out the most horrible noise Charlie Swan had ever heard. She rushed forward to the stretcher.

"Ma'am, we are going to have to ask you to step back," the EMT cautioned her.

"It's my baby, my baby," Esme sobbed.

"I'm fine, Mom," Edward assured her loopy, the blood loss getting to him.

"Ma'am…" the EMT began.

"I was in labor for sixteen hours with this child seventeen years ago," Esme snapped at him. "You better not try to tell me I can't ride in the ambulance with my son." Giving up, the EMTs loaded the stretcher into the back of the ambulance then helped Esme Cullen in. Slamming the doors, they sped away.

"He saved me," Bella whispered. Her father almost didn't hear her.

"What's that Bells?" he asked.

"He saved me, Daddy," she repeated.

* * *

_8:28 a.m. – Forks Community Hospital_

They had been preparing for the worst. Dr. Carlisle Cullen never thought he would see the day when students sprayed with bullets would be coming into his ER. Not in the town of Forks. This is why they had moved from Chicago when Edward was so young, to get away from this violence. He was already getting the information on his first patient. Shelley Cope, a divorcee and the School secretary. Wounds to the head, neck, and, shoulder with heavy blood loss. He looked at the grim faces of Dr. Snow and Dr. Gerandy who were waiting with him. Things like this didn't happen in Forks.

* * *

_8:30 a.m. – Forks High School_

Charlie Swan sighed, seeing his daughter cuddled up in the back of his car and wearing the sweatshirt he had given her to cover up her bloodstained shirt. She was on the phone to her mother. Renee had been hysterical. She would be coming in to the middle school in a few minutes to wait to pick Bella up. It was hard for Charlie to let his daughter out of his sight, especially as he saw so many of her classmates being pulled out of the school on stretchers.

Seven students and two teachers had been pronounced on the scene. One had coded just as they loaded him into a waiting ambulance. At least twelve students and one staff member had been transported with various injuries from shots to the arm to severe head trauma and multiple bullet wounds to torsos. They were supposed to be giving a press conference at noon. Charlie Swan didn't know what he could say to the people of Forks. Nothing would heal this.

* * *

_8:35 a.m. – Forks Community Hospital_

Edward Cullen had been to Forks Community's ER several times, but never as a patient. He was losing consciousness due to the pain medication. He could feel his mother ruffling his hair and whispering to him. He knew sort of where he was. They were talking about wheeling him into surgery. He wondered if Emmett was okay. His eyes closed. He just wanted to tell his mother he was okay.

* * *

_8:40 a.m. - Forks High School_

Alice Brandon couldn't stop shaking. Ten minutes before, she had watched the ambulance carrying Jasper Whitlock speed out of the parking lot. She had walked with him by the stretcher, holding his hand, until they had loaded him up and driven him away. Then, the police had questioned her about what she had seen. It had been horrible to relive. Now, she didn't know what to do or where to turn. The police had ushered her over with another group of students in the buses. They were slowly loading them up and taking the students down the road to the middle school to meet up with anxious parents.

As she stood in line to get on the bus, Alice realized she really recognized few of the students on the bus with her. She had been scanning the area for any sign of her baby sister. She tried to distance herself from her freshman sister. Cynthia didn't exactly want to be known as the little sister of an "art freak" and Alice didn't exactly want people to know the bouncy, giggling freshman was her sister. However, she would willingly admit their Barbie tea parties out loud if only to see her sister was safe.

There were few seats left on the bus. Alice noticed a vacant one next to Rose Hale. Even in light of what had happened, it seemed people were still afraid they could catch an STD from Rose Hale just by sitting next to her. Alice slumped into the seat and Rose looked at her curiously. Rose's mouth opened and then shut.

"You have…" Rose began. Alice looked down and realized there was blood on her shirts.

"It's not mine," Alice whispered. Rose nodded then opened up her backpack, and offered Alice her jacket.

"Take it," Rose nodded.

"Thank you," Alice whispered.

"It's no problem," Rose assured her.

"How did you…" Alice began.

"I ran into the library," Rose said. "Angela Weber and Ben Cheney hid me and a bunch of freshmen working on some history project in there with us…" Alice's head popped up. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and showed Rose the picture of her and her sister.

"Was she there with you?" Alice asked.

"Yes," Rose nodded. "Is that… your sister?"

"Yeah," Alice sniffled.

"She's fine," Rose assured her. "We all got separated up into different buses. She might be there already."

"I hope so," Alice whispered.

* * *

_8:52 a.m._

He now had a list, the names of the students who were pronounced dead on the scene. The feds would be taking things from here. Charlie radioed the officers stationed at the middle school and asked them to organize the parents of these kids into a separate room. He had insisted on telling these parents themselves. This was his community. It was his duty to protect it. He knew there would be weeks of grief and paperwork on this. He sighed and got into the cruiser beside his daughter.

"Daddy," Bella questioned. She hadn't looked so small in so many years.

"It's going to be okay, baby girl," he assured her. Truthfully, he wasn't sure himself. He pulled his car out of where it was parked. He had to get Bella to her mother.

* * *

_9:03 a.m. – Forks Middle School_

Rose and Alice walked side-by-side into the cafeteria of Forks Middle School. All around them, parents and children were crying, holding on to one another. Some were getting ready to leave and go home. Alice watched as Angela Weber ran to her mother. Her father, the local minister, gripped his daughter and then was waved over by Charlie Swan. Behind him, Alice saw Bella. She turned to talk to Rose but instead found Rose sprinting toward her own mother and father. Vera Hale had big raccoon eyes from where she was crying. Alice thought it made sense. Rose had traveled on the fringes of Victoria's crowd. Alice shuddered, catching a glimpse of Victoria's father and mother being escorted into a separate room. They probably didn't know yet.

Shaking the thoughts out of her head, she waved to Bella who smiled but was then caught up by Renee Swan, clutching her daughter and sobbing. Charlie Swan held on to both of his girls, kissing the tops of their heads. He whispered to Renee that he had to talk to some parents and that one of the officers would be around to take Bella's statement in a few minutes. Renee nodded, but didn't let go of her daughter. Bella hugged her mother back tightly.

Alice turned around and went to find her own parents. The bright blue feather Cynthia had braided into her hair that morning caught Alice's eyes first. Pushing past a few people, Alice walked forward as her mother and father stood up. Ann and R.J. Brandon were relieved when their youngest daughter Cynthia had appeared, but they were holding their breaths until Alice appeared. With both of their girl's safe, they hugged their family together. It was Ann who looked down first and gasped, seeing dried blood on her daughter's hand.

"What happened honey?" R.J. asked calmly as his wife descended into tears.

"Jasper Whitlock… he tried to stop Jimmy… he tried… he was shot," Alice said. "I helped Jasper use his jacket to stop the bleeding until they could get to him… I was so scared. I was so scared."

"Oh sweetie," Ann blinked.

"Can we go see him in the hospital later?" Alice asked.

* * *

_9:21 a.m._

Charlie Swan looked on his list and sighed. Over the past twenty minutes, he had sat in a room with seven sets of parents to tell them their children would not be coming home and told others their children were being operated on in various hospitals. His officers had taken several to the morgue at Forks Community to either wait on results of their children or to identify them in the morgue. The state police had been kind enough to take the Newton's, Stanley's, Tanners and Mallory's to the hospitals in Seattle where their children had been airlifted. There were two sets of parents who were late that he had to see now. Liam and Maggie McCarty hadn't gotten the news right away because they both worked running a large inn outside the National Park. Mary Whitlock had come in after hearing the news from her office, working as a local CPA. Her husband, Major Randall Whitlock, was currently stationed overseas in Afghanistan.

While waiting for the three remaining parents, Charlie had taken time to hold a less than fruitful interview with Harold Greene, the school's principal. Greene had been with several staff members on the other side of the school in a staff development meeting. The school's resource officer wasn't full time. He was provided from the sheriff's office and split his time between Forks High and Forks Middle School, working the middle school in the morning and the high school in the afternoon. Greene also didn't really remember the shooter. He knew Royce King and Larry Belancourt well because they were stars on the football team, but when asked about Jimmy Hunter, he had to be prompted a little. He eventually admitted that Jimmy Hunter had been in his office a few times for lateness and then a few more times in harassment cases related to Belancourt and King. However, it had always been Hunter's word against theirs and with no further evidence; he had dismissed it as boy's being boys. It rattled Charlie to hear Greene's descriptions of the incident. He couldn't even remember Hunter's name. He kept calling him "Jamie."

Jarred out of his thoughts by a rap at the door, Charlie looked up to see that Mary Whitlock and the McCartys are being shown to his room by one of his officers. Charlie waved them in and the three of them filed in. Charlie took a deep breath, hoping they would take the news well.

"Just tell us Charlie," Liam said as they took their seats, not allowing Charlie to say anything.

"Your boys are both at Forks Community," Charlie said. "According to the information we have, their injuries are not life-threatening." He noticed all three parents breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thank God," Mary Whitlock whispered.

"From the preliminary information we have…" Charlie said. "Both of your sons… Emmett and Jasper… they tried to stop the gunman identified as one James Hunter, a fellow student. Both of them sustained wounds attempting to take the gun from him…"

"Jimmy?" Mary Whitlock repeated.

"Yes ma'am… you knew him?" Charlie asked curiously. The McCartys seemed intrigued as well.

"He and Jasper were friends… for a while," Mary shrugged. "Then he started dating Victoria and they sort of pulled apart, but after Jimmy and Victoria broke up… he sort of became a loner. Jasper tried to hang out with him a few times afterward… but Jimmy never wanted him to come over any more…"

"He was a very troubled young man," Charlie nodded. He paused. "There are officers ready to take you all to the hospital to wait for further news."

"Thank you, Charlie," Liam said, shaking his hand. Charlie nodded. He didn't feel very much like being thanked.

* * *

_9:35 a.m._

Bella hadn't felt particularly comfortable talking with the officers, but she knew she had to answer their questions. Her mother had rubbed her arm and held her close as she told them all about what she had seen, the shots, how Jimmy had taunted her and threatened her with his gun. She told him how Edward Cullen had saved her life, how Jimmy had shot Riley when he ran. She told them how Edward and Emmett struggled with Jimmy for the gun. She cried as she told them about the gunshots coming from the stairwell above her.

"Oh baby, oh baby," Renee sobbed, holding her daughter close after the officer left.

"It's okay, mama," Bella whispered. "I'm not hurt."

"I love you baby," Renee sobbed. She looked up and saw Phil Dwyer, chatting with some of the kids on his team and their parents. They made eye contact briefly and looked away from each other. They had broken things off after Renee's pregnancy scare. Bella still didn't know. Charlie wanted to patch things up. All of a sudden, Renee realized how close she had come to losing her family.

"I'm worried about Daddy," Bella said.

"We're going to get through this baby," Renee said, holding her daughter close. "We'll get through it somehow."

* * *

_10:02 a.m. – Forks Community Hospital_

Shelley Cope's surgery had been successful, one of the best of Carlisle's career. She had no close relatives. She was in a coma, but there was brain activity. He felt she would recover. She was a fighter. She had proven that much by not going down so easily, by making that call and saving the other students. He walked out of the surgery room and headed toward the front of the ER to see what they needed him to do. He was briefed by one of the nurses about the situation.

Seven kids were dead at the school and two teachers. Four of the students who had been brought in to Forks Community were in too serious condition for the small hospital. Mike Newton and Bree Tanner had been airlifted to Seattle immediately upon arrival. Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory left a few minutes later. Two students – June Richardson and Austin Marks – had died on the operating tables. There was nothing that could be done.

"Is there anything I can do?" he asked Nurse Jackie. She looked away from him. "What is it?"

"You should head to room 111," she said.

"Is there a patient I need to attend…?" he began.

"Dr. Cullen…" Jackie said, taking in a deep breath. "It's your son." He stumbled backward but caught himself.

"Edward…?" he gasped.

"He's fine. He cleared out of surgery about fifteen minutes ago," Jackie explained. "Your wife is with him now… I don't think he's woken up from the anesthesia…"

Carlisle didn't stick around to hear the rest. He rushed into the room and found his wife, leaning over their son, stroking his hair. Edward was almost the same height as himself now, but Carlisle couldn't help but think how small his son looked in that hospital bed, or how pale he was. He stopped short as Esme turned around and her eyes met his, tears running down her face.

"He's going to be fine," Esme said, managing a slight smile. Carlisle let out a breath he didn't even realize he was holding in relief.

"How is he?" Carlisle asked.

"They removed a bullet from his right arm and two from his left leg," Esme said. "No real damage. He'll be fine to walk in a few days, but they don't want him… We could have lost him, Carlisle. We could have lost our baby."

"He's fine," Carlisle said, pulling up a chair beside her and taking his wife in his arms.

Edward was their only child, the only one they would ever have. The in vitro-fertilization had been an expensive process and had only worked once. Esme had really wanted to try again for a little girl, but it wasn't to be. They had their little boy, and now, they had almost lost him. Carlisle let his wife cry on his shoulder as he reached forward and touched his son's arm. The heart monitor sped up a bit and Edward's eyes fluttered open, looking at both of his parents.

"Hi," he said in a scratchy voice.

"Baby," Esme cried, reaching forward and pulling her son up in her arms. He wrapped the unhurt one around her.

"My glasses broke… I think they're still at school," Edward began.

"Don't worry about it son," Carlisle assured him. "We can get you a new pair."

"How's Emmett?" he asked.

"I don't know, baby," Esme shook her head.

"What about Bella?" he asked.

"She's with her father," Esme said, stroking his hair.

"Jimmy… Jimmy is he?" Edward asked.

"He's gone, son," Carlisle nodded.

Edward felt bad that he felt so relieved.

* * *

**End Note:**

_As this story is set in 2008, I did not include any shootings after April 2008 in Charlie's reflections on school shootings._

_Federal law enforcement, in particular the ATF, is often called in for school shootings because local law enforcement is often understaffed and overwhelmed. _

_A small community hospital like the one in Forks would most likely not have the technology or the number of surgical teams necessary to deal with a dozen shooting victims at one time. Many complicated shooting cases are first taken to small community hospitals for attempts at stabilization and then airlifted to hospitals with more resources. _


	3. Chapter 3

_In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. - Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights leader and minister_

* * *

_Monday, April 14, 2008_

_10:09 a.m. – Forks Community Hospital _

Jasper Whitlock and Emmett McCarty were probably the last people anyone would think would room together, but they had been placed in the same recovery room at Forks Community. Jasper was still a little loopy from where they had put him under. They had taken two bullets out of his arm, one out of his shoulder and one out of the fleshy part of his thigh. Emmett only had a few in his arm and since he was huge, he had come out of the anesthesia quickly. Emmett had the TV in the room on Comedy Central and was having fun guffawing it up with Jasper. Though he was dressed all in black and had once been friends with Jimmy, Jasper found it comforting that Emmett was cool with him.

"You think everyone else is okay?" Jasper asked Emmett suddenly. Emmett had been avoiding the grim conversation.

"I know Bella Swan was fine. She wasn't hit. Edward Cullen was though… and…" Emmett began.

"Riley. And a lot more," Jasper sighed.

"You were brave to take him on like that," Emmett said. "I saw."

"You too," Jasper said. He was quiet. "He used to be my friend. I don't know… I don't know what happened. He dated Vicky and then she got popular and they broke up and then… he just changed. I mean, I'm not trying to defend what he did or anything, but he had it rough at home. And he didn't have a lot of friends… I just…I don't know what I could have done."

"It's not your fault," Emmett assured him.

"I just feel like I should have done something," Jasper sighed. "What do you think they're going to do to him?"

"You… you didn't hear?" Emmett asked.

"I was sort of focused on bleeding after the SWAT guys showed up," Jasper said.

"They shot him," Emmett said. "He wouldn't give up."

"Suicide by cop," Jasper whispered.

"It's not your fault, dude," Emmett assured him.

"I just feel like maybe I could have stopped him… maybe if I had made more of an effort he wouldn't have felt… so alone… so desperate," Jasper sighed.

"Was he letting you in?" Emmett asked curiously. He flipped the channels to see what else was on, but, found very few channels that weren't focusing completely on the school shooting in the tiny town of Forks. He quickly changed things back to comedy.

"We stopped talking about six months ago," Jasper admitted. "I tried calling him and going over to his house, but he just ignored me, told me to leave… I just sort of gave up."

"Dude, you did the best you could," Emmett shrugged. "You threw him a life line. If he didn't want to grab hold of it, there's nothing you could have done…"

"I could have seen it coming," Jasper said bitterly. "I could have told someone he was capable of doing something like this…"

"No one knew he was capable of this," Emmett insisted. "Seriously, if guys like Royce and Larry thought Jimmy was capable of going berserk and shooting them, do you really think they would have teased him so much?"

"Yeah, I do," Jasper shrugged.

"Just tell me where my baby is!" A woman's shrill voice called from the hall.

"Oh shit," Emmett groaned, doing his best to better cover up the wounds to his arm and torso with his hospital gown. "That's my mom. She's going to freak when she sees me like this."

"You know, out of the entire family, I didn't think I'd be the one getting shot," Jasper admitted.

"Why'd you say that?" Emmett asked incredulously.

"My dad's stationed in Afghanistan," Jasper sighed. "He' supposed to be home by the end of the summer from his current tour."

"Heavy, man," Emmett nodded.

"Emmy bear" Maggie McCarty sobbed from the door. She pushed past Jasper's bed and over to where Emmett was laying, engulfing him in a hug. Emmett hugged his mother back but rolled his eyes at Jasper with a silly grin. Jasper turned back to the door to find his own mother standing there.

"Hi, Mom," Jasper said quietly. She came forward and held onto him tightly. Jasper flinched as she clutched his side where he had been shot. Looking at her son curiously, Mary Whitlock lifted up her son's hospital gown and saw where his wound had been patched up. She choked back a sob. "I'm fine, Mom," Jasper tried to assure her.

"Your brother is driving in from U. Dub as we speak," Mary informed him.

"Peter didn't have to…" Jasper began.

"He wanted to," Mary insisted. "And they're flying your father back. They gave him two weeks leave because… of all this…"

"Mom, I'm fine," Emmett groaned as his mother continued gripping him. "The doc's say it shouldn't interfere with football or anything. I mean, my arm hurts like a bitch…"

"Language," Liam McCarty reminded his son. Jasper hadn't even seen Emmett's father walk into the room.

"We're going to get you a huge burger for lunch with all the fixings. And a milkshake, any flavor you want," Maggie McCarty sobbed.

"Cool," Emmett said. "Can we pick something up for Jasper too? I'd hate for him to be stuck here eating hospital food…"

"Emmett, they're keeping you overnight," Liam McCarty said.

"What? Shit, I'm not using a bed pan or nothing…" Emmett shook his head.

"There's a bathroom," Jasper said, pointing to the door on the other side of his bed.

"Oh, cool," Emmett nodded.

"The police are going to want to talk with you," Liam McCarty informed both of the boys. "They're… getting statements from everyone… trying to sort out what happened…" The room fell silent for a while.

"Well, how about we get you fellas something to eat, hmm?" Maggie McCarty smiled.

* * *

_10:30 a.m. – Forks First Lutheran Church_

Helping her father open up the church was a good distraction for Angela. With all of the pain and suffering flowing through the tiny community of Forks, the good Reverend Weber decided to open up his church for anyone who wanted to stop in, pray, sit in reflection or who needed counseling. His support staff of assistant ministers and laypersons had been called in to help out with those in need. Though the doors had not yet opened, there was already a line of people outside the church, coming in, looking for answers.

Her mother was down in the church's kitchen with a few other ladies from the church. They were making lunch for anyone who wanted to have a meal in the church's fellowship hall. It seemed to Angela that no one really wanted to be alone in light of what had happened. Angela hadn't seen James with his gun, but she had heard the shots and the screaming from outside the library. She shivered thinking about it, how she had been separated by some crazy guy with a gun by a foot-thick concrete wall and some heavy oak doors. She shook her head again. It wasn't some crazy guy. It was Jimmy Hunter, the same guy she had gone to class with since she was in kindergarten.

Thinking back, Angela tried to think if there were signs – anything – she or someone else might have missed when it came to Jimmy. He melted in with the crowd of faces when they were all in elementary school, back when there weren't cliques of losers and popular girls. However, when middle school started and things started to split up, she remembered how guys like Mike Newton and Royce King drifted toward the cool new guy from Louisiana – Larry Belancourt – and how guys like Jimmy Hunter and Edward Cullen got left in the dust. Jimmy found his way into a friendship with Jasper Whitlock who had moved from Texas in the fourth grade. The two of them wore black, listened to dark music and seemed like trouble.

Then Jimmy started seeing Victoria, who was getting toward the unhealthy side of skinny and had punky black streaks through her hair the start of freshman year. However, Victoria changed into Vicky, dressing in the latest mall fashions, gossiping with her new popular friends and ditching her old boyfriend for Larry and his crew. Angela wondered if it had started then. She knew Vicky had been a target. She knew Jimmy had basically stalked her after their break up, begging her to get back together only to be teased and beaten up by Victoria's new friends. Now that she thought about it, she didn't remember much of Jimmy's dad, just that he occasionally was employed by the local lumber mill and spent a lot of his time in bars on the outskirts of town. His mother wasn't frequently seen either. She kept to herself, never spoke and seemed to be running from people.

With a sigh, Angela walked over to where her father had just finished counseling a mother and son, a freshman who Angela didn't recognize. She gave him a slight smile and he smiled back before his mother lead him out of the room. Her father looked like he had aged twenty years in twenty minutes. He put an arm around her and squeezed tightly.

"Why do things like this happen, Daddy?" Angela asked.

"I don't know," he sighed. "I just don't know."

* * *

_11:03 a.m. – Swan Residence_

After getting home, Bella had to answer a call from her grandparents. Nana and Poppa Higginbotham down in Florida had heard it all on the news and were frantic to see if their darling granddaughter was okay. After assuring them she was fine, she allowed them to talk to her mother for a few minutes. Flipping through the channels, it seemed like the tiny town of Forks was the most interesting place on the planet. Bella had noticed the beginnings of a media circus starting outside the school and there had been cameramen and reporters positioned outside the middle school, ready to ask any child or parent if they were willing to comment on camera.

It was eerie seeing all of the crime scene tape draped over the school, watching as federal officers came in and out. Looking up at the clock, Bella realized she should have been in biology with Dr. Banner. It was odd being home on a Monday. She didn't even know when she would be going back to school. She didn't know if she could go back. Bella didn't know if she could walk down those same hallways of Forks High without fearing gunshots or going into the girl's bathroom by the main office without thinking it was the place where Victoria had gotten shot in the head. She didn't know if she could walk up the stairs to the second floor without thinking about the hail of bullets that took down Jimmy. Her father and the other officers had talked about it – suicide by cops – a kid who had just turned eighteen gunned down because he wouldn't surrender to police. Against her better judgment, Bella turned the TV off mute and watched the report standing in front of Forks High School.

"_According to a statement released by Chief Charles Swan of the Forks Police Department, the gunman has been identified as one James Hunter, a senior at Forks High School. According to the statement, a preliminary investigation indicated that the gunman shot his mother, father and 7-year-old sister at their residence before driving to Forks High School and turning weapons on his classmates and teachers. _

"_Police have confirmed nine students and two teachers are dead as the result of the attack. According to officials with the local hospital, six students died instantly from their wounds, a seventh in an ambulance on the way to the hospital and two others on the operating tables around 8:40 a.m. this morning. At least four wounded students have been airlifted to hospitals in nearby Seattle and police have identified at least seven students and one school staff member are being treated at the local hospital._

"_So far, law enforcement has not released the names or ages of any of the victims or the motives for the crime. However, several students we have spoken with indicated the gunman was severely bullied and at least one of the students shot was his ex-girlfriend. Law enforcement has not given us any further background into the gunman, but legal records indicate there was a history of domestic incidents at his residence."_

"_Thank you Dina," the anchorman said. "We will now go live to Chris Chen who is at the gunman's residence where police are…"_

It was too much. Bella cut off the television completely.

"Oh, sweetie, don't watch that," Renee shook her head, coming over and cuddling with her daughter. She kissed her daughter's head.

"He wanted to shoot me," Bella said, "Because dad wouldn't put his dad in jail. And, because he was sick of his dad coming home drunk and beating his mom up all the time."

"Sweetie," Renee said, biting back her tears.

"He would have too, Mom," Bella shook her head. "He would have shot me if Edward Cullen hadn't pushed me out of the way. He took a bullet for me, Mom. All I did was to help him get out of his locker when Royce and Larry pushed him and…"

"Baby," Renee sobbed.

"Can we go see him, in the hospital?" Bella asked. "I want to say 'thank you.' He saved my life.'"

"Of course, baby," Renee nodded. "We'll go see him after we eat lunch, okay?"

* * *

_11:45 a.m. – Forks Community Hospital_

Charlie Swan took in a deep breath before knocking on the hospital room door. He knew it had to be hard for Carlisle Cullen. The two of them had worked together, even pressured Jeanine Hunter into pressing charges against her husband when she had been brought in one night. However, her answer was always the same: she loved her husband and she couldn't remember or wouldn't say what he had done to her. Now, Carlisle had a son with a bullet wound, a bullet mean for Charlie's own daughter. He had gathered that much from the other interviews. This was one Charlie wanted to do himself.

"Come in," Carlisle's voice echoed from the hall. All three of the Cullen's looked up at Charlie. Esme had a slight smile, Edward seemed embarrassed and Carlisle was grim.

"I'm sorry to interrupt… but we're taking statements from… everyone involved," Charlie explained. "We're doing our best to piece together what happened…"

"Of course," Carlisle nodded. "Edward, you okay?"

"Yeah," Edward nodded quietly. He was a quiet kid. Reserved, like his father. Charlie sat down and conducted the interview, setting up his tape recorder and his note pad. They were hard questions to ask a boy who was turning seventeen in less than a month. They were questions, Charlie thought, that no high school kid should be asked.

"Thank you, Edward, for your cooperation," Charlie said standing up, placing his hand on Edward's arm.

"And thank you… for what you did for my Bella," he said.

"Larry and Royce shoved me into my locker and shut the door this morning," Edward admitted. "Bella let me out. They do stuff like that all the time... Larry and Royce… They do things like that to Jimmy all the time. One time, they forced him into the girls' bathroom; used zip ties Larry got from his dad's woodshop, and tied Jimmy to one of the light fixtures with it. They pulled his pants down and he was stuck like that for thirty minutes before someone finally went and got a teacher… Is it bad… is it bad that I almost feel like they deserved it? I mean, I've wished guys like Royce and Larry would disappear… not get shot but get transferred or something… What does it mean if you identify with the bad guy?"

"I don't think Jimmy was a bad guy," Charlie admitted. "I think he was a very confused, very ill kid who didn't get the help he needed… maybe we all didn't realize how much help he really did need."

"I guess," Edward shrugged.

"At any rate, thank you," Charlie said. He nodded to Esme and walked out of the room only to feel Carlisle's presence behind him.

"I know this is hard for you, Charlie," Carlisle said.

"I feel like it's my fault… I knew the kid had a lot going on, but I didn't think…" Charlie sighed. "I should have done something…"

"You've done all you can," Carlisle insisted. "If you had any inkling the boy was capable of something like this, you would have done something."

"I have had to look more people in the eye today and tell them their child is dead than in my entire career," Charlie said.

"I was extracting bullets from the secretary at my son's school not knowing my own son was in surgery down the hall," Carlisle shrugged. "This isn't an easy day for anyone."

"I have to get back to the school," Charlie sighed. "We've got a statement to issue… I just… I wish I could have known… could have done something…"

"Like you said, Jimmy Hunter wasn't well," Carlisle shook his head.

"No," Charlie sighed, "but I don't think he was helped either."

* * *

_12:15 p.m. – Brandon Residence_

It was odd for Alice seeing the Chief on CNN. Her best friend's father was the last person she thought would be on all the major news networks giving a press conference. Of course, Charlie's portion was just like Principal Greene and the Mayor's, a brief segment talking about how they were investigating the nature of the incident and asking the people of Forks to come together and support each other as well as asking the media to give people time with their grief.

"I come to you as both the Chief of Police of Forks and as a father of a Forks High School student," Charlie addressed the camera calmly. "I cannot begin to put into words the scope of his tragedy…"

Alice thought Charlie had said it all right there. She squeezed her sister Cynthia's hand and Cynthia smiled up at her. The two of them had drifted apart since middle school. At first, Alice didn't want her annoying little sister hanging around and then, as Cynthia started to fall into a more popular crowd, it was suddenly Cynthia who didn't want to know her big sister was the freak in the gothic Lolita get ups who died her hair black and had a lip ring. However, the two sisters held each other close on the couch, something they hadn't done for years.

"Did he shoot at you?" Cynthia asked suddenly as Jimmy's picture appeared on the screen beside the image of Charlie Swan addressing the media. Some clever newsperson had found a two-year-old picture of Jimmy Hunter from his Facebook and it was now everywhere.

"No," Alice said. "I was hiding. Jasper tried to stop him. They were friends… back in middle school… but things changed in high school… Jasper wanted to stop him, but he wouldn't listen."

"I was so scared," Cynthia whispered. "Angela and Ben forced us all into the copy room and shut the door, but we could hear the gun shots still. I didn't know how long I was going to be in there or if he was coming…"

"It's okay," Alice assured her.

"Were you scared when you saw him?" Cynthia asked.

"I was more scared for you," Alice admitted. "I wasn't really thinking about myself. I was wondering where you were, and if you were safe. I was so glad to see you were okay…"

"You know I love you, Allie, right?" Cynthia asked softly.

"Of course, Sissy," Alice smiled, giving her sister a squeeze, "and I love you too."

* * *

**End Note:**

_A recent research study found nearly three-fourths of school shooters left behind evidence or suicide notes indicating bullying was the chief cause for their actions. An estimated 71 percent of school shootings are motivated by bullying._

_Studies also indicate suffering child abuse or witnessing domestic violence are more likely to desensitize profiled school shooters more than violent music, movies or video games. _

_In cases where a bullet is not near any major organs, arteries, etc. doctors can sometimes remove the bullet and have the patient released from the hospital in nine hours or less._

_Suicide by cop is a method of suicide in which an individual does something to provoke a lethal response from law enforcement or other legitimately armed individual, such as being shot to death. Scientific journals explored this method of suicide since the 1980s, though the term "suicide by cop" was not coined until the 2000s. It is also referred to officially as "victim participated homicide."_


	4. Chapter 4

_Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity. – Hippocrates, ancient Greek physician_

* * *

_1:03 p.m. – Hale Residence_

"Rosie, dear," Vera Hale sighed, "I'm sure they would understand if you didn't go in today."

"I know, but I think they're going to need me more than ever," Rose shrugged, pulling her hair into a ponytail. "Besides, I became a candy striper because I wanted to help people. Those are my classmates, mom. I think it might be comforting to them to see someone they know from school…"

"I suppose," Vera sighed.

"I just want to feel like I'm doing something," Rose admitted. "Sitting around here watching the news coverage… it's just making me antsy. I need to do something."

"You are too much like your father," Vera smiled.

"I'm not even sure they'll let me work today," Rose admitted. "Nurse Jackie is in charge of the program and she might send me home. Or maybe they'll let me work in the maternity ward today."

"Maternity ward" Vera asked curiously?

"I can't explain it…" Rose sighed. "Walking out of the school… when the police came to get us and escort us out… there was like this aura of death around the place. That's why I hate working the geriatric ward, you know? But the maternity ward… all those new babies, that new life… its hope. I wouldn't mind some of that right now."

"I'll drive you Rosie," Vera said.

"You sure Mom" Rose asked?

"Of course I'm sure!"

* * *

_1:36 p.m. – Forks Community Hospital_

"Hey, Jasper, looks like you've got a visitor," Emmett announced, a huge smudge of ketchup by his lip.

Jasper looked over from his own burger, expecting to see his mom was back with his brother. She had gone to meet Peter at the house. Emmett's parents were taking a coffee break and talking with the surgeon about Emmett's condition. Jasper was surprised when he saw Alice Brandon, her mother and little sister standing outside the room, talking with one of the nurses. Jasper had blushed bright red, which Emmett caught.

"Dude, you _like_ her," Emmett grinned.

"Shut up," Jasper said, turning back down to his burger.

"Seriously, though, you're like her hero or something now," Emmett said, straining his eyes. "Dude, she got you balloons!"

"Shut up!" Jasper growled.

"Ah, come on man," Emmett rolled his eyes. "You kind of did save her life. Excellent time to put the moves on her…"

"Jimmy wouldn't have gone after her," Jasper shook his head. "Besides, I don't think hours after my ex-best-friend shot up the school is a good time for me to be 'putting the moves' on anyone."

"Just saying," Emmett shrugged before swallowing a handful of French fries. The nurse escorted the Brandon women into the room and suddenly it got very awkward. Emmett, ever tactful, broke it up.

"Hey Alice, cool balloons you chose."

"They're for Jasper," Alice muttered.

"Sweet," Emmett nodded. "We're roomies for the night at least."

"So… you have to stay?" Alice asked Jasper curiously.

"Yeah," Jasper said. "Something about blood loss and major surgery and stuff… It's just for observation. They think I'll be able to come home in a day or two."

"Okay, cool," Alice said.

"We'll put the balloons here," Ann Brandon smiled, setting them down by Jasper's bedside.

"It was either that or the big stuffed pink teddy bear in the gift shop and I sort of thought…" Alice began.

"Nah, I get it," Jasper nodded.

"There's only one florist in town," Ann Brandon admitted. "They are swamped with orders because of… anyway it would have been a while before they could have gotten something for us, and so we picked it up in the hospital gift shop."

"You didn't have to do that," Jasper said.

"You didn't have to try and stop Jimmy," Alice pointed out. A tense silence swallowed the room.

"Well, you didn't have to help me out," Jasper said. "The doctor said I could have lost a lot more blood."

"Yeah" Alice sniffled.

"But I'm fine," Jasper said.

"That's good," Alice nodded.

"Well, Alice, we should let these boy's get some well-deserved rest, hmm?" Ann Brandon prompted her daughter.

"Maybe I could come back tomorrow?" Alice asked, looking at Jasper rather than her mother.

"Sure," Jasper nodded. Alice smiled and Cynthia waved before both girls followed their mother out of the room.

"Dude" Emmett grinned. "She likes you!"

"What? No," Jasper shook his head. "She hardly ever talks to me and…"

"Yeah, because the whole 'Man in Black' tough guy vibe you've got going on makes you so approachable," Emmett snorted.

"What?" Jasper echoed. "You think I'm unapproachable?"

"Dude, I was a little scared of you before today, you know?" Emmett shrugged. "But that chick… she's got it _bad_ man… She was so worried about you and brought you balloons… You should totally ask her out when we get out of here…"

"But…no, I can't," Jasper shook his head. "It's not that easy for guys like me…"

"What do you mean? Guys like you?" Emmett snorted.

"I'm not… like you… I'm not the type of guy who can just walk up to a girl, flirt with her and score a date," Jasper shrugged.

"Oh, yeah, I'm a total _lady's man_," Emmett snorted.

"Aren't you?" Jasper asked incredulously.

"I've had one girlfriend, in sixth grade. And she moved to Idaho in seventh grade," Emmett shrugged. "And… well… if you tell anyone this I'll call you a liar but… there's kind of this girl I've had a crush on since freshman year but I've never gotten the guts to talk to her…"

"Why not, you're like… the man… you're on the football team and made All-American and you've probably got scholarships up the whazoo…" Jasper shook his head.

"First…she was dating a guy on the team and that's like a whole bro's before ho's deal… not that she's a "ho." She's actually really sweet, but people don't realize," Emmett trailed off. "Anyway, their relationship ended badly and she totally swore off football players… Not that it would matter if she hadn't because I totally get tongue-tied and act like a total goof whenever I get five feet from her. She dropped her pencil once in class and I went to get it for her so fast I knocked over two empty desks… It was a disaster…"

"I had no idea," Jasper admitted.

"Yeah," Emmett said. "But you should totally hook up with Alice there. She's really nice. We were in freshman art and she really helped me out. I mean, my stick figures were nothing compared to what she can do, but she's really cool."

"How about… I just see if she comes back tomorrow?" Jasper suggested. "And we take it from there…?"

"Alright, dude," Emmett shrugged. "But I still think you should totally ask her out."

* * *

_1:48 p.m._

"I still can't believe you got a pie," Bella smirked at her mother.

"Well, it's what people do," Renee snorted. "Besides, I didn't have time to make one on my own and… Well, what should I get the boy who saved my daughter's life?"

"It's alright mom," Bella shrugged, giving her a side hug.

"I hope he's not allergic to chocolate," Renee muttered as the two of them were escorted through the hospital corridors.

"Did Daddy say when he'd be home?" Bella asked.

"It's going to be a long night, apparently," Renee sighed. "I just don't know what we can do…"

"Maybe… we could make dinner?" Bella suggested. "Not just for Daddy but… well, I'm sure there are a lot of people down at the station with the state troopers and FBI and all… maybe we could make them all something nice when we get home?"

"You're such a sweetheart, Bella," Renee sighed.

The two of them turned the corner into the room and found Edward Cullen sitting up in bed, reading a book. Renee knocked on the door and he looked up, smiling slightly to see the two women there. It was the first time Bella had gotten a good look at Edward without his glasses on. They had been knocked off sometime during the fracas and she didn't know what had happened to them. Nervously, she filed in behind her mother.

"Hello, Mrs. Swan, Bella," Edward acknowledged. Bella blushed a little bit. Everyone seemed to know her family because of her father's position in town. Then again, everyone seemed to know the Cullen's because Carlisle was a popular doctor at the hospital.

"Hi," Bella said sheepishly.

"We brought you a pie! I hope you like chocolate," Renee said cheerfully.

"Thanks," Edward nodded.

"You aren't here all on your own, are you?" Renee asked, concerned.

"My mom is getting some coffee and my dad is doing rounds… He's technically still on the clock, but that hasn't stopped him from coming to see me every five minutes," Edward chuckled. He gave Bella a once over. "You weren't hurt, were you?"

"No," Bella said. "Just… you know… shaken up." Renee put an arm around her daughter, giving her a squeeze.

"Thank you, Edward," Renee said, "for what you did for my Bella." Edward had blushed bright red as his mother entered the room.

"Oh, hello Renee, Bella," Esme smiled.

"Hello, Esme," Renee replied, handing over the pie. "It's for Edward."

"Thank you," Esme said, giving Renee a slight hug. "How is Charlie?"

"Busy," Renee sighed.

"I could say the same for Carlisle," Esme nodded. The two women continued to chat as Bella made her way closer to Edward's bedside.

"How bad is it?" Bella asked.

"The doctor said the shot to my leg was clean and I shouldn't have problems walking. It didn't hit anything but the fleshy part, which is good, I guess," Edward said. "My arm's pretty banged up, but it's my right arm, so…" Bella looked at him confused. "I'm left handed. Of course, I'm not going to be playing the piano again for a while…"

"You play?" Bella asked, surprised.

"Since I was little," Edward nodded. "Anyway, the pain medication they've got me on is making me feel pretty great about everything in general. How are you doing?"

"Fine… considering," Bella sighed. "I'm afraid to go to sleep tonight. And I wish my dad could be home with us, but he's got so much to do and… I think my dad feels guilty. He sort of knew Jimmy's parents… you know… through work… he seemed really upset… I don't want people to blame Dad for this…"

"I know Jimmy was mad at your dad," Edward said, "but it wasn't like your dad put the gun in Jimmy's hand and told him to shoot. He was just… blaming other people for his problems… taking it out on other people… I mean, he and Jasper were best friends or whatever and he still… I don't know… I'm trying not to think about it but…"

"It's always there," Bella agreed. "Anytime I have any quiet moment it comes up."

"I know," Edward agreed.

"Come on, Bella, sweetie," Renee said. "Let's let Edward get some sleep, okay?"

"Okay," Bella nodded, getting up.

"Thanks for coming by," Edward said.

"It's good to see you both," Esme nodded. Renee and Esme gave a short hug and then escorted Bella out of the room.

* * *

_2:08 p.m._

She had been at the hospital thirty minutes in her candy striper uniform and though Nurse Jackie had been skeptical on letting Rose do her regular shift that afternoon, she had relented. Of course, being that Rose was two hours early for her usual time meant she would be leaving two hours early, no arguments. Unfortunately, there weren't any new babies in the nursery at that point though there were two women slated to deliver within the coming days. Instead of working the maternity ward, Rose had been assigned to the main ward of the hospital.

So far, she had been delivering snacks around the hospital. Sweet Mrs. Johnson had talked to her for a while about her cats while creepy old Mr. Harper had ogled her boobs and conveniently "dropped" his television remote for her to pick up. Annoyed, Rose started to head into the next room, only to see three doctors gathered around the patient with various monitors beeping. Getting a better look, it looked like the patient was asleep. Stepping further inside the room, Rose realized the patient was Ms. Cope, the sweet secretary at the school. Of course, rather than her normal cheerful demeanor, Ms. Cope had several bandages around her head and her neck. She didn't look like she was alive.

"There is brain activity, but there was also a lot of blood loss," Dr. Cullen explained to Dr. Gerandy and Dr. Snow. "I am hoping she will wake up soon, but as you know, it could be a while."

"Has her family been contacted?" Dr. Gerandy asked.

"She doesn't have any," Dr. Cullen sighed. "Her ex-husband left a while ago. The last contact she apparently had with him is the divorce… Her parents were both local, both deceased. And she has no siblings. The nurses are trying to see if she has any cousins, but it appears she has no next of kin… I don't think she is in a situation where she would end up on long-term life support but… she could take a turn over the night."

"Any living will?" Dr. Gerandy asked.

"As far as we know, she doesn't have any will," Dr. Cullen admitted.

"Alright," Dr. Gerandy sighed. "Well, let me know if there are any updates."

"You know, Charlie Swan said she was the one who called it in," Dr. Snow commented.

"Pardon" Dr. Gerandy asked?

"She was the one on the 911 call… the first victim," Dr. Snow continued. "If she hadn't made that call… I'd hate to think how many more kids could have been hurt…"

"I know," Dr. Gerandy sighed. The three men turned and left the room, Dr. Snow and Dr. Gerandy nodding and smiling slightly at Rose as they passed. Only Dr. Cullen stopped.

"Rose, what are you doing here today?" Dr. Cullen asked.

"I just wanted… wanted to help," Rose admitted. "I was going stir crazy sitting at home too and I just…"

"I understand…" Dr. Cullen nodded.

"Is there anything… anything I can do?" Rose asked, referring to Ms. Cope. "She was always so nice… she smiles at everyone… Not that you really want to know this, but when I got my first period at school, she held my hand in the office and comforted me while I cried and waited for my parents to pick me up… She… she really doesn't have anyone?"

"If you want, maybe you could spend some time with her," Dr. Cullen said. "She's not fully conscious, but that doesn't mean she isn't aware. It is remarkable what merely talking or sitting with a patient in her condition can do."

"I sometimes read to the patients, especially the older ones who can't see," Rose said. "Maybe I could come back and read to her when I'm done with my rounds."

"I think she would like that," Dr. Cullen nodded.

"Thank you, sir," Rose said.

"Well, I should probably get back to work and let you get back to your rounds," Dr. Cullen said. Rose nodded and then progressed down the hall into the next room with her cart of goodies. She stopped short, halfway into the room, when she saw who was there.

"Dude, how do you even get ahold of a tank?" Emmett shook his head.

"My dad said the guy was on meth or something and broke into the base," Jasper shrugged. They both looked over and found Rose Hale, slack jawed at finding the two most unlikely classmates all buddy-buddy and watching the "World's Most Dangerous Police Chases" on TV.

"I…uh… have granola bars and fruit parfaits… and vegetables with dip…" Rose prattled off.

"Figures they'd only have health food," Jasper sighed.

"Hi…uh...Huh… hello," Emmett bumbled.

"How… are you?" Rose asked.

"I'm…uh… good…" Emmett said in a squeaky voice.

"We're okay… better than we could be," Jasper said. "You…work here?"

"I volunteer Monday, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons," Rose nodded.

"I…eat your snack? I mean, I'd like a snack," Emmett blabbered.

"Uh… sure…" Rose said, wheeling the cart between their beds. "Do you guys see anything you like?" Emmett looked ready to pass out.

"Not really," Jasper grimaced. He reached into the drawer beside his bed and pulled his wallet out of his jeans. "If I give you a few bucks could you get us some junk food out of the vending machines and not tell the nurses?"

"Sure thing," Rose smirked.

"Dude… you don't have to…" Emmett began.

"Your folks got lunch," Jasper shrugged.

"I'll be back in a jiff," Rose nodded. "Guard the cart for me?"

"Aye, aye captain" Emmett said with a mock salute. As soon as Rose was out of the room, Jasper turned to Emmett.

"That's the girl you've have a crush on?" Jasper asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Shut up. She's not like people say she is," Emmett grimaced. "That's just a rumor Royce had spread around because she wouldn't put out or anything… just… don't talk about her like that…"

"I wasn't thinking anything like that," Jasper shrugged. "You were right about her being nice. A candy striper, huh, not exactly what I thought her after school job would be."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Emmett asked angrily.

"I don't know… I'd think she'd work at one of those girly boutiques or something," Jasper shrugged, "Selling bangles and nail polish and stuff."

"She's a good person," Emmett blushed.

"Yeah," Jasper said. "So why don't you ask her out."

"I'll make you a deal, I'll ask her out when you ask Alice out," Emmett smirked.

"You are unfair," Jasper grimaced.

"I got sodas and some candy bars," Rose said, reentering the room. "You guys can divvy them up. And if any of the nurses say anything to you guys about this, you better not implicate me because I will totally tell them the two of you got up out of your beds against orders to go to the vending machine."

"I thought candy stripers had to be nice to the patients," Jasper muttered.

"Get a bed pan thrown at your head and see how nice you get," Rose snorted.

"That's happened?" Emmett gaped.

"More than once, but Mr. Morrison is a Vietnam Vet… sometimes he thinks the staff is the enemy," Rose shrugged.

"Damn, hospital work is hard," Emmett said.

"Well, I have to get back to my rounds," Rose said, pushing the cart out of the room.

"God, I hate to see her go, but I love to watch her walk away," Emmett sighed.

"We are such losers," Jasper sighed.

* * *

_6:07 p.m. – Forks Police Department Headquarters_

Charlie Swan couldn't help but smile at seeing his daughter, wife and various officers bringing in huge covered dishes into the police station. Over the day, several people had been kind enough to bring food down to the station and the Forks Diner had brought out a wide selection of their famous pies for everyone to eat. There was tons of paperwork in addition to the grief of sorting out what had happened and talking with the parents who had lost children as well as the Banner and Goff families, who had lost a mother and father, a husband and a wife.

Most everyone had been kind about it. They had let Charlie console them and assured him he had done all he could, that he handled the situation as best he could, given the circumstances. However, it was hard for Charlie to believe had had done everything the right way considering there were so many lives lost in Forks that day. It made him feel inadequate that an eighteen-year-old kid with a bunch of guns had killed eleven people, nine of whom were just kids. It weighed on him, even though his fellow officers on the state and federal level assured him no small town or small town law enforcement department could ever predict or be equipped for an incident like this.

The only person who had been harsh to Charlie was Eleanor Katz, the mother of Victoria Katz. While Victoria's father John and step-mother Nina had been grave and hard to console, Eleanor had lashed out. Her younger daughter Serena had made it out fine, but, her eldest daughter was dead. Charlie tried to explain the gunshot had been instantly fatal, but Eleanor Katz had insisted Charlie should have known in advance that Jimmy Hunter would stalk the school with a gun, that Charlie should have had some psychic premonition as police chief that a troubled teenage boy would shoot his girlfriend, who happened to be Mrs. Katz's daughter. She treated Charlie as if he was in on some conspiracy to assassinate her daughter. Charlie had tried to speak with her and it was only when her ex-husband confronted Eleanor and told her not to act out in her grief that she finally calmed down. Charlie tried to convince her he understood her grief on some level. His daughter had the gun thrust in her face as well.

"It's good to see you," Charlie said, kissing the top of Renee's head and then Bella's. Renee had blushed just a little. She still felt awkward around her husband in light of her affair. They were supposed to go to counseling that week. She had a feeling that would be pushed back. She felt guilty. It was the long hours of her husband's job that made her feel unwanted, that made her seek love in another man's arms. But he would be working even longer hours now trying to put their town back together.

"This was all Bella's idea," Renee smiled "Our thoughtful little girl."

"How are you Daddy?" Bella asked, hugging her father.

"Better now that you two are here," Charlie said. It would be nice to eat a family dinner again, even amid all the chaos around him.

* * *

_In the case of someone like Mrs. Cope with no living will, the next of kin would have to be contacted before the hospital could pull her off life support unless the person had a living will. A living will is a document signed by a person indicating whether or not they would like to be resuscitated or held on life-support in the event of the unthinkable and also gives power of attorney as to who can make the decision on whether or not to pull them off life-support. The issue of the living will became predominant following the Terry Shciavo case in 2005 where the patient had no living will leading her husband and parents into a court battle over whether or not to "pull the plug."_

_Many states will keep a person on life support for months or even years even if they show absolutely no sign of brain activity and do not have a living will. Sometimes, due to patient overcrowding, hospitals will get a judge to terminate the life support of long-term care patients who have no living will and no identifiable kin. Washington state used to have a registry for living wills, but budget cuts eliminated the program in 2011._


	5. Chapter 5

_**Thanks again to dowlingnana**  
_

* * *

_Is adult entertainment killing our children or is killing our children entertaining our adults? – Marilyn Manson, rock singer_

* * *

_5:19 p.m. – Forks Community Hospital_

"Dude, that's your brother?" Emmett gaped as Peter walked into the room with Mary Whitlock. Jasper groaned.

He didn't really like people knowing that his brother was Peter Whitlock, the famous high school running back who had led Forks High School to the division championships three times in a row. Peter was now on a football scholarship at UDub and guys like Emmett wanted nothing more than to sit at his feet like disciples. The two brothers were pretty much the polar opposite in appearance. While Jasper was lanky, thin with unruly long blonde hair Peter had this golden California surfer boy look with huge muscles. Sure, he loved his brother and they got on a lot better than many brothers did, but Jasper hated how he always faded into the shadows whenever Peter was about. Things were tough enough without having a local celebrity as a brother.

"Hey, Jazz, how you feeling?" Peter asked, sitting at his brother's bed side.

"I've been better," Jasper shrugged.

"Mom said you had some pretty intense surgery," Peter commented.

"Yeah," Jasper sighed. "They had to pull a few slugs out of my arm and one out of my side, but its fine."

"What's the prognosis?" Peter asked.

"Lots of blood loss, bed rest, and I'm hoping to go home by the end of the week sometime," Jasper shrugged.

"Mom told me what you told the cops," Peter said. "It was a brave thing you did."

"Didn't help much," Jasper shrugged. "All it did was land me in here."

"Still, it takes a lot of courage to stand up to your friends," Peter said.

"Did you just quote Dumbledore?" Jasper asked with a raised eyebrow. Peter laughed and then noticed Emmett in the next bed.

"So, you've got McCarty as your roomie? Sorry man," Peter teased. "He was my JV buddy back senior year and let me tell you, this guy can stink up a room with a fart like no other."

"Hey, you were the one who suggested we go out for Taco Bell," Emmett snorted.

"Where's Mom?" Jasper asked.

"Bugging your doctor," Peter shrugged. "We would have come sooner, but we got a call from Dad wanting to know how you were doing at the house."

"Yeah," Jasper asked.

"They're flying him out to Germany and he should be here tomorrow afternoon sometime," Peter said. "He's pretty eager to see you. He'll only have a week or two to be home and then they're sending him back."

"How're you doing, sweetie?" Mary Whitlock smiled, coming in to her son's room.

"Fine, Ma," Jasper grimaced as his mother kissed the top of his head.

"Where are your folks, Emmett?" Peter asked curiously.

"Went out to get some dinner and call my grandma," Emmett shrugged. "They're trying to convince her and my aunt and uncle they don't need to drive up from Tacoma."

"Well, I got you boys some supper," Mary smiled, lifting up the bucket of fried chicken she had made at home. She helped divide the food up among the boys and then she took the seat Peter had vacated by Jasper's bed in favor of the recliner.

"Thanks, Mom," Jasper nodded, sorting out his green beans and mashed potatoes.

"Yeah, Thanks Mrs. W.," Emmett agreed through a mouthful of chicken.

"Who got the balloons?" Peter asked.

"Oh, they're Jasper's," Emmett grinned. "Alice Brandon brought them by a few hours ago."

"Alice Brandon, huh" Peter wiggled his eyebrows.

"Shut it," Jasper growled.

"I think it was sweet," Mary Whitlock smiled.

"Mom," Jasper groaned.

"What? It's sweet," Mary Whitlock shrugged.

"Mom… have you talked… with Jimmy's folks?" Jasper asked suddenly. Peter's eyes flitted to his mother and her face was downcast.

"You guys haven't been watching the news, have you?" Peter asked.

"We've been avoiding it," Emmett shrugged. "No need to listen to that crap…"

"What happened?" Jasper asked his brother.

"Jazz," Peter sighed, putting his hand on his brother's shoulder, "Jimmy… he killed his family. Even his sister… before he came to school in the morning…"

"He…he what" Jasper balked. "He'd never… he'd never hurt his mom or Morgan…he loved her so much he…"

"I'm sorry Jazz," Peter sighed, pulling his brother into a hug. "Jimmy… I don't think any of us could have helped him. Don't beat yourself up, okay?"

"I should have tried harder," Jasper said angrily. "I should have done something… I just didn't…"

"It's not your fault, Jazz," Peter assured him. Somehow, his brother's words of encouragement didn't make Jasper feel better.

* * *

_7:03 p.m._

Rose had only managed to find two books in the whole of Forks Community Hospital to read to Ms. Cope. The first was the copy of the Bible left in the drawers by the Gideon's and the second was her own copy of _To Kill A Mockingbird_ Rose was reading for her end-of-the-year book report due in her American literature class. With a sigh, Rose had opened up the well-worn pages and begun reading to Mrs. Cope. She had gotten so engrossed in reading the book when her rounds ended, she had lost track of time when Nurse Jackie knocked on the hospital room door.

"Rose, honey, you're thirty minutes over your time. You should get home," Nurse Jackie instructed.

"Oh!" Rose exclaimed looking up at the clock. "I'm sorry… I didn't realize… it was… a nice distraction."

"I'm sure," Nurse Jackie smiled.

"Well, I should clock out and I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Rose sighed. "I should probably call my mom, too. She's supposed to pick me up and I'm sure she's more than worried."

"Okay, sweetheart," Nurse Jackie nodded. Rose took one last forlorn look at Ms. Cope.

"Have they been able to find her family?" Rose asked curiously. Nurse Jackie sighed.

"No," Nurse Jackie replied. "They've been looking, but they can't find anyone so far."

"I feel so bad that she doesn't have anyone," Rose said. "Do you think… do you think she can hear me when I read to her?"

"The doctors said she has brain activity," Nurse Jackie shrugged. "I've seen stranger things in this hospital. I've seen people come out of comas that lasted much longer…"

"But you've also seen it go the other way," Rose bit her lip.

"You know, I think it wouldn't hurt for you to come and read to her during your rounds," Nurse Jackie said. "Just having someone in the room that cares matters the most. I always talk to my patients, even the ones who might not be able to hear, just so they know there is someone in the room who cares."

"Well, I'll be back tomorrow," Rose smiled. "And I'll bring some better reading material."

"Take care," Nurse Jackie nodded.

* * *

_8:30 p.m. – Brandon Residence_

"You're turning in awful early," Ann Brandon commented, noticing her daughter Alice in her pajamas and getting her customary glass of milk before bed.

"It's been a long day," Alice sighed. "I just want to get some rest."

"Okay, sweetheart," Ann said, hugging her daughter.

"I guess I don't have to wake up early for school tomorrow," Alice sighed.

"No, sweetie," Ann shook her head.

"When are we going back?" Alice asked.

"Canceled until further notice," Ann sighed.

"It's so weird… my school is a crime scene," Alice said.

"Don't say things like that…" Ann shook her head.

"But it's the truth, Mom," Alice replied.

"I know," Ann sighed, hugging her daughter. "It's just… the place I send my children to school should be safe it should be… I don't know… Things like this don't happen in Forks…"

"But it did, Mom," Alice pointed out. "It happened here."

"I suppose everyone in every town, where something like this happens, must feel this way," Ann sighed. She kissed Alice on the top of the head. "Say goodnight to your father and your sister before you go to bed. Today has been pretty hard on both of them, your father especially, even though he's done his best to hide it."

"Is Daddy okay?" Alice asked, worriedly.

"He was very worried about the two of you," Ann smiled. "He called me from work. I had to talk him out of driving up to the school to get the two of you himself. I don't think Charlie Swan and all those police officers would have been enough to stop him."

"Night, Mama," Alice said, giving her a squeeze.

She walked through the living room and into the den where her father was drinking a beer and watching ESPN. He didn't normally drink unless it was a social occasion or he had a particularly hard day at work. She walked up behind him and put her arms around his neck, giving him a tight squeeze. R.J. Brandon looked up and smiled at his eldest daughter.

"Good night, Daddy," Alice said.

"Nite, Allicat," he said. "Sleep tight, okay?"

"Sure thing," Alice nodded. She turned and went up the stairs, knocking on her sister's door. She found Cynthia reading a magazine but seeming utterly distracted.

"Hey," Cynthia smiled.

"Hey," Alice repeated.

"You're going to bed this early?" Cynthia asked.

"Tired," Alice shrugged.

"Okay," Cynthia nodded. "Goodnight, then."

"Night," Alice nodded.

After undoing her hair and fluffing her pillows, Alice crept under the covers of her bed and turned off the light on her bedside table. She momentarily thought about leaving the stained glass lamp on with a dim setting throughout the night so the multi-colored glow would give her some comfort. She wasn't sure if she wanted to spend the entire night in the dark. Alice had just started to drift off to sleep when she heard her bedroom door open and a shuffling sound approaching her. Sitting up and slightly rubbing her eyes, Alice saw the outline of her little sister standing in her darkened room.

"What is it, Sissy?" Alice asked.

"Can… can I sleep with you tonight?" Cynthia asked worriedly.

Alice smiled slightly. Cynthia had not come in to her room to spend the night for several years. Whenever Cynthia was little, she would get scared by bad dreams and thunderstorms and rather than creep to the far end of the hallway to find their parents she would seek comfort with her big sister. Alice never said anything but she occasionally was afraid of those big thunderstorms herself and having her little sister next to her made her feel not as afraid. Alice peeled back the covers of her bed and pats the empty spot next to her.

"Sure, Sissy," Alice nodded.

"Thank you," Cynthia smiled meekly, sliding into the bed next to her. Alice helped Cynthia get comfortable and then put an arm around her sister, both of them slowly drifting off to sleep.

* * *

_8:47 p.m. – Forks Community Hospital_

"Mom, you seriously don't have to stay the night here," Edward huffed at his mother. Esme didn't look up, folding the corners of the sheets on the cot the hospital had supplied neatly.

"I am not letting you spend the night here by yourself," Esme replied.

"What about Dad?" Edward pointed out. "You really want him to go home to an empty house?"

"He's not going home either," Esme said. "He's going to be sleeping in the recliner." Edward looked at the lumpy recliner in his room and frowned.

"I though he always needed a good night's sleep for his surgeries the next day," Edward said.

"They've given your father a few days off to be with us," Esme said. "In light of… the current situation. He's running home right now to get some things we'll need for the stay, but he should be back any minute now."

"You guys really don't have to do this," Edward groaned.

"I am not leaving, Edward," Esme informed him. "Your father and I are staying the night and that is that."

"Great," Edward grumbled.

"And you need to rest," Esme said, walking over to fluff Edward's pillows.

"Mom, I usually don't go to bed until like ten!" Edward protested.

"Yes well usually you haven't been… you aren't in the hospital," Esme sniffed. "You need to rest so you can heal up."

"Mom…" Edward groaned, not wanting to move so she could mess around with his pillows. "I'm not even tired, okay? Can't I just stay up and watch a little TV or something? I mean, it's not like I'm going to have to get up early for school or something tomorrow…"

"You're acting irritable, Edward," Esme cautioned him, biting her lip.

"I've got bullet wounds Mom," Edward grimaced, "I think I'm allowed to be a little irritable…"

"Edward Anthony!" Esme shouted.

"What's going on?" Carlisle asked, entering the room with a couple of duffle bags over his shoulder. Edward sighed. His father had changed out of his hospital gear and into sweats, which he usually wore on his morning run rather than the more professional attire he wore around the house.

"Carlisle, talk some sense into your son!" Esme huffed. "I'm going to get… coffee or tea or something…" Esme huffed off to the waiting room to take advantage of the complimentary drinks and snacks provided to people there while Carlisle was stuck facing his annoyed looking son.

"What's happening?" Carlisle asked with a sigh, placing the duffel bags down on the ground.

"Mom's babying me again," Edward grimaced.

"Well, son, after what happened today I think your mother deserves a chance to baby you a little," Carlisle said, taking a seat in the recliner. "You are her only child and you did sustain some pretty severe injuries."

"They aren't life threatening," Edward said. "And you said yourself I could be home in two or three days."

"Yes, but most young men your age aren't in the hospital for two or three days because they were shot," Carlisle pointed out. "I think your mother is having a hard time thinking something like this could happen to her son…"

"She won't even talk about it or acknowledge it," Edward said. "I mean, how are we supposed to deal with this when she won't even look me in the eye or admit what happened?"

"Your mother just needs time," Carlisle assured him.

"Does she think I'm like him?" Edward asked curiously.

"Like who?" Carlisle asked.

"Like Jimmy," Edward shrugged. "I mean, there are similarities. Neither one of us were popular. Both of us… have been on the wrong side of Larry and Royce. I mean, this morning they shoved me in my own locker and shut the door. And I thought _that_ was going to be the worst part of my day."

"Your mother isn't thinking that," Carlisle assured his son. "Son, you know how hard it was for your mother and I to have you. The last thing any mother wants to feel is that their child isn't safe. She just needs to know that you're okay. I know it may seem annoying, but how about we indulge her for a little while? Make her feel comfortable?"

"I guess," Edward sighed.

"Your mother will be ready to talk about this when she's ready," Carlisle reminded him. "For now just let her fuss over you so she can feel like she has some control."

"Okay," Edward agreed. He wasn't happy about it, but as his mother walked back into the room, Edward wondered if she had been hurt more than he had that day.

* * *

_10:30 p.m. – Swan Residence_

It was a later than usual evening and Charlie Swan knew the next day would involve an early morning and a late night as well. The investigation at the Hunter residence had yielded some information vital to the investigation. They could tell when the Hunter family was killed due to a post mortem done by the local medical examiner and the guns used were all registered to James Hunter, Sr. They all had come from a gun safe and the conjecture was that James Hunter either never locked the safe or his son knew the key code.

Beyond that, Jimmy Hunter's locker, backpack, car and room were all heavily searched for any hint of motive, anything that could explain why he had come to school that morning with loaded weapons. His backpack had been emptied and yielded nothing but the ammunition he intended to use on his classmates. His car had nothing but a bunch of fast food wrappers. In his bedroom, the feds pointed out several items that were often the "calling cards" of school shooters. Jimmy had a lot of first-person shooter games and plenty of violent movies like "Natural Born Killers." There were CDs by various violent rap artists, Marilyn Manson and others, though Charlie found it hard to believe listening to heavy music could produce a killer. He himself had been a heavy metal fan and attended at least one Judas Priest concert as a teen.

The computer experts had found Jimmy's Facebook page and closed it down before the media could get too carried away with it. According to their findings, Jimmy had posted several rants about how much he hated school and his parents. There was a scathing post about Dr. Banner giving him detention for being late, but nothing overtly threatening. It was also noted the page hadn't been updated in at least six months, around the same time he had been defriended and ended his relationship with Victoria Katz. It was also noted that other than some distant cousins, the only friend Hunter had on Facebook was Jasper Whitlock.

Re-interviewing Principal Greene hadn't helped either. The feds had done it this time with Charlie in the back of the room. They seemed pretty pissed that the sheriff's department claimed a lack of funding was why the high school didn't have a full time resource officer, but their anger had quickly shifted to Greene, who persisted on calling the kid "Jamie" and couldn't recall significant detail about the young man. He had balked at releasing Jimmy Hunter's personal file, but when told they had federal warrants, there wasn't anything he could do. The file and Principal Greene told two very different stories. While Greene had a hard time remembering the kid, the file showed Jimmy was in the principal's office at least twice a week for the past six months. About half of it was disciplinary issues such as tardiness and mouthing off to teachers while the other half were all bullying incidents related to Mike Newton, Royce King and most frequently Larry Belancourt. All of these accusations had been dismissed. Principal Greene argued that no other students had ever come forward with similar allegations nor had anyone backed Jimmy up in his claims of bullying. Furthermore, Greene said he wasn't about to punish two of the schools best and brightest students based on hearsay and the word of one troublemaker.

It wasn't until around 8:30 that night when they finally found something that gave them any sort of clue into their killer. Crumpled up and thrown under Jimmy's bed was what appeared to be a hit list? Carefully unfurled and smoothed out when one of the officers handed it to him. There were only eight names on the list:

_Victoria Katz_

_Larry Belancourt_

_Royce King_

_Mike Newton_

_Jane Stanwick_

_Tanya Dezhnev_

_Jessica Stanley_

_Lauren Mallory_

Then, toward the bottom and written in a different color ink was a name that made Charlie's blood run cold.

_Bella Swan_

It was a hit list, or at least that's what the feds said. He didn't have written out why he wanted to hurt these nine teenagers, but their names seemed to sync up from the interviews they already had from the students on the inside. From the context of the situation, it seemed Jimmy had targeted kids who had bullied him. Others who were shot apparently had just gotten in the way of his intended victims. As for Bella, she had told Charlie herself why she had been targeted. Jimmy wanted to make Charlie Swan feel as bad as he did when his father had come home drunk.

He wished he had done something, but he could never get anything more than a drunk and disorderly to stick. The only person James Hunter ever assaulted on his drinking binges was his wife and she always lied, saying she had tripped or slipped trying to help James into the house or something. Charlie had stayed later than he needed to and when the FBI guys finally forced him out the door of the station, he decided to head home.

When he arrived, he found his wife watching TV in the living room. He expected it to be another one of her mindless reality shows but instead she was watching the news and silently crying. The hospital and police had not released the names of any of the students killed, but through local gossip it seemed the media had gotten a hold of information on Jimmy Hunter and at least some of the victims. Funerals were already being planned for a few of the students who had died that morning. Charlie sighed and hung his jacket up on the rack, which alerted Renee to his presence.

"You don't need to be watching this crap," Charlie said, turning off the TV. His wife stood up and hugged him, something she hadn't done when he came home from work in a long time. Together they sat on the couch and Charlie put his arm around his wife.

"I just can't believe it," Renee shook her head. "That something like this would happen here… would happen in Forks…"

"I know," Charlie sighed. "I had a hard time believing it myself. Walking the hallway of that school… seeing it all marked up with evidence markers and…" Blood was the word on Charlie's mind, but he didn't want to say it to his wife.

"I was there when Bella was interviewed, Charlie," Renee pointed out. "I know what you're thinking. I know that could have been our little girl in the hospital today… or worse…"

"Where is Bells?" Charlie asked.

"She went to bed earlier. Exhaustion, I guess," Renee sighed. "I don't know… I don't know if it's fully hit her yet… She seemed sort of dazed a lot of the day… Of course, we all have been. I just don't know how someone can do something like that!"

"Jimmy Hunter was very troubled," Charlie said. "From what we've found out so far, the kids at school didn't make things easier and from the number of times I've been called out to put James Hunter in the drunken tank, I know the kid's home life wasn't much better. I suppose he thought he had no escape."

"But our Bella: Our sweet little Bella?" Renee shook her head. "Why would he want to harm her?"

"Because of me, Renee," Charlie said.

"I know what he told her but…" Renee shook her head. "It isn't your fault. You did everything you could. I know you wouldn't have let… let James Hunter do what he did to his wife if you could… it's the law that's wrong about that… not you…"

"It means a lot hearing that from you, Sugar," Charlie smiled at her sweetly.

"You're going to be working a lot of long hours this week, aren't you?" Renee sighed. Charlie swallowed.

"Yeah," he said. "This thing is pretty involved."

"I'm so sorry, baby," Renee shook her head. "I know this has to be tough on you…"

"I just wish I could have done something differently," Charlie said. "Maybe we wouldn't be in this situation…"

"No, don't think like that," Renee shook her head. "You did everything you could, Charlie."

"You know, going through that kid's room today… I saw a lot of myself in him," Charlie admitted. "We were both long-haired teenage kids. We both listened to all of that dark rock and roll and liked horror movies. His father is an abusive alcoholic and my father was… What makes me so different from that kid, huh? Other than he was more razzed on by kids at school and his sweetheart broke up with him. Is that really enough to send someone like him over the edge? Or, someone that was like me?"

"The difference is what you chose, Charlie," Renee said. "You chose to do something positive with your life. He chose to be destructive. You chose to be better than your surroundings, to rise above."

"I had you," Charlie said, giving his wife a kiss. "I had you to pull me out of the darkest spots. Jimmy Hunter… I don't think he had anyone. At least not anyone he would listen to. I could have easily been that kid in high school."

"But you weren't," Renee shook her head.

"I don't know," Charlie sighed. "I guess I should get some rest before they get me up again tomorrow. More press conferences and digging dirt on some teenage kid. By the way, Renee, does Bella have a Facebook thingy and what is she putting on it?"

"We can talk to her sometime tomorrow about that," Renee said.

"Are you coming to bed?" Charlie asked her as he stood up.

"I'm going to get some yogurt and then I'll be up," Renee replied, moving toward the kitchen. Renee bit her lip as she watched the sagging form her of her husband trudge up the stairs. She had wronged him in so many ways, yet he was always there for her when she really needed him. Renee sighed. She had blamed Charlie's work hours and dedication to his job as being the reason for her affair. Now, she was starting to wonder if maybe Charlie spent so much time at the office not because he wanted to but because he didn't feel welcome in his own home.

Walking softly across the old creaky wooden floors, Charlie passed the bedroom he shared with his wife and padded down the hallway to his daughter's room. The door was slightly ajar and the moonlight was streaming in slightly, revealing his daughter cuddled up with a big stuffed animal on her bed. He hadn't watched his daughter sleep since she was much younger, at least eight or nine. Tiptoeing into the room, he stood by her beside and pushed some of the stray hairs out of her face. She shifted slightly in her sleep and ever so gently, Charlie bent down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Only a split second and Edward Cullen's right arm separated him from the other families in Forks who were making plans to bury their children.

"Sleep well, Bells," Charlie whispered before turning and exiting the room.

* * *

**End Note:**

_Though violent video games, particularly first-person shooter games like "Doom," have long been connected with school shootings as well as violent music and video games, studies show violent media does not necessarily create violent children. Rather, teenagers who are already violent are more attracted to violent media as an outlet. _

"_Natural Born Killers" (1994) was a favorite film of Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. The film is loosely based on the killing spree committed by Charles Starkweather and Caril Fugate, a pair of Nebraska teenagers who stalked the plains of Nebraska in 1958._

_When asked about why he thought the Columbine school shooters listened to his music, Marilyn Manson replied: "I think it says a lot about the media that those two kids were on the cover of Time magazine twice because I'm sure that's everything they wanted. They wanted fame. America sold them the idea that an obituary is just another headline."_


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks to dowlingnana**

* * *

_Guilt is anger directed at ourselves - at what we did or did not do. Resentment is anger directed at others - at what they did or did not do. _

_- Peter McWilliams, American writer_

* * *

_Tuesday, April 15, 2008_

_8:45 a.m. – Forks Police Department_

Charlie normally didn't come in until around nine in the morning, but he knew he was in for a week of early mornings and long days. The feds had basically taken over the station to do all of their stuff and Charlie was more than happy for them to lead the investigation. They weren't as emotionally involved as the officers in Forks, and Charlie felt much better being available to help ease the fears of local citizens than delving into the dark, depressing life of a doomed teenage boy.

It was all strange to not only Charlie but his entire department. Forks town wasn't exactly a hot bed of illegal activity. They dealt with mainly domestics, rowdy loggers at the local bars, the occasional person trying to grow a small illegal patch of pot, and occasionally a small time burglary or armed robbery. There had never been a murder in the town in the nearly 18 years he had worked on the force, though there was the occasional suicide by a lonely mountain man or an accidental prescription drug overdose. When he was young, he did remember a husband-wife murder suicide over money. Now the city had eleven dead plus a teenaged gunman. It was hard for Charlie to think about. He didn't even get a chance to pour his coffee when the dour looking faces of the FBI liaison and State Police Officer assigned to help the case approached him.

Special Agent Burke was a woman about Charlie's age with a predominant furrow in her brow and thin lips always in a firm, uncompromising straight line. Her eyes held some sense of sympathy for what had happened, but she was straight business when it came to something else. She had expressed her sorrow for the incident but had delved straight into research. Charlie thought of her as a clockmaker trying to reverse engineer Jimmy Hunter to find out what made him tick. Sergeant Jones of the state police was an old friend of Charlie's who was getting close to retirement but still smart and sharp. He had a more human approach to everything but was equally determined to find out what had gone so horribly wrong in such a quiet town.

"Lay it on me," Charlie sighed. They both offered him sympathetic smiles.

"Doing research into Jimmy Hunter's medical records, I found he was on several antidepressants," Burke explained.

"Which ones" Charlie asked.

"The shorter list would be which ones he _wasn't _on," Burke shrugged.

"So, did he stop taking his meds?" Charlie asked.

"Not by choice," Burke sighed. "His father was laid off three months ago for drinking on the job. The insurance was canceled, and so were all of the prescriptions. The last one his parents had filled was two months ago, and it would have run out long before now."

"So, depressed, off his meds, anything else?" Charlie asked.

"We did a more intense search of his room," Jones said. "We found some papers… enlistment papers for the Army… I called the recruitment office up in Port Angeles and they said they had talked with a Jimmy Hunter several times but…"

"Let me guess… the fact that he was on so many antidepressants made the military reject him," Charlie grimaced.

"Yes," Jones nodded. "He also received two college rejection letters… one from the University of Washington and one from Peninsula College."

"So, no college, the military wouldn't take him and he's off his happy pills," Charlie grimaced. "Sounds to me like a kid who feels like he's got nothing left to live for."

"We also found… his cell phone," Burke continued. "He made three calls before the shooting; All of them to his ex-girlfriend Victoria Katz who was pronounced dead at the scene. The first went to voice mail but he didn't leave a message. Apparently, Ms. Katz ignored the next two."

"From the testimony from all the kids, it wasn't a mutual breakup," Charlie nodded. "She apparently dumped him for a more popular guy and he wanted her back desperately. To make matters worse, her new boyfriend and his buds apparently picked on Hunter a lot."

"Did the principal notice anything amiss about Hunter?" Burke asked.

"The principal can't even remember the kid's first name or the fact that Hunter was a frequent flyer in his office," Charlie grimaced.

"Typical," Burke groaned. "School administration should be the first line of defense against things like this. It was probably going on right under their noses. And I'm sure I'll find more warning signs the school could have detected as we continue."

"I wish I had known," Charlie sighed.

"It's not your fault," Jones reminded him.

"Well," Charlie sighed. "Where do we go from here?"

* * *

_10:01 a.m. – Forks Community Hospital_

Jasper and Emmett were again relegated to their rooms and had not made very many friends among the nursing staff. Apparently, one of the doctors thought it would be a good idea to get the wounded up men a pair of wheelchairs to exercise a bit in the hallways rather than keeping them cooped up in their hospital rooms. Thirty minutes and three rounds of wheelchair jousting later, the nurses banded together and in no uncertain terms told all of the doctors that neither patient Jasper Whitlock nor patient Emmett McCarty should be allowed outside their rooms without supervision. Nurse Jackie had narrowed her eyes at Drs. Snow and Gerandy, both of whom failed to cover a few laughs at the retelling of the incident.

Now, under the close supervision of a beefy male nurse, Emmett and Jasper found themselves in the day room with several other patients to entertain themselves. Despite his gothic appearance, Jasper had found himself right at home with the two geriatric patients, a couple of men, old men who hogged the TV remote in the day room. Together, the three very enthusiastically watched some Civil War marathon on the History Channel.

Emmett rolled his eyes at the scene. The only other patients in the day room was an old lady with dementia who was knitting a sweater – apparently for her cat – and a thirty year old woman who kept trying to slip out the door for a cigarette when no one was watching. Emmett was about to give up on finding something to entertain himself with when a grumpy looking Edward Cullen was wheeled in to the day room by his mother. Emmett had to admit, Esme Cullen was a MILF and he momentarily considered becoming a doctor if that's what Carlisle Cullen had to do to score such a hot babe. Of course, all those years of school really did a number on Emmett's boner.

"Hey man! They not trust you with your wheelchair either?" Emmett laughed.

"What?" Edward asked.

"Jazz and I are now on double secret probation for jousting in the hallway on ours with brooms," Emmett replied. "What'd you do? Speed racing down the hallway?"

"Uh… no," Edward blushed. "My mom insisted on…"

"I'll just leave you here, Edward sweetie so you can talk with your friend," Esme grinned. Edward turned beet red as his mother picked up a copy of _Lady's Home Journal_ and took a seat on the couch next to the crazy knitter.

"She in full-on smothering mode" Emmett whispered knowingly. Edward perked up, hard to believe someone like Emmett McCarty was talking to him.

"Uh…yeah…" Edward whispered back. "She kept following me around earlier and wouldn't back off until I told her I had to go to the bathroom and needed the privacy. My dad and I have both been trying to find excuses for her to leave the hospital, but she won't move more than five feet away from me. It's like she thinks I'm going to run away or something. Like I could.

"Leg?" Emmett asked.

"And arm," Edward nodded.

"Arm and upper shoulders," Emmett said. "Doc said it shouldn't impact football too much. Of course, I'm probably going to need some intense physical therapy before coach is willing to put me back in; just in time for summer training too."

"Sorry," Edward frowned.

"Who they got you rooming with" Emmett asked.

"Single suite," Edward replied. "Guess my dad used some of his connections."

"Nothing wrong with that," Emmett grinned. "Jasper and I are roomies here. They're supposed to be releasing me tomorrow, or at least that's what the doc told my mom. Jazz hasn't said when or if they're letting him go. His dad's supposed to be here this afternoon and you can't tell by looking at him, but he's pretty pumped."

"Where's his dad?" Edward asked, confused.

"Flying him back from Afghanistan," Emmett said.

"Whoa," Edward said, glancing over at Jasper who was talking Civil War weaponry with one of the old guys. He had no idea that Jasper's dad was overseas.

"So, you wanna get this party started?" Emmett asked. "They got Monopoly, but I suck at math. And then there's Sorry and Checkers…and…"

"Chess" Edward said eagerly.

"Yeah," Emmett grimaced, pulling out the board. "You know how to play this thing?"

"I'm chess club president," Edward pointed out. "And… well… only member in the club because everyone else graduated last year…"

"Alright, smart guy, teach me how to play chess," Emmett said. "But go easy. I'm mostly brawn and little brain."

"I'm sure you could get a handle on it," Edward said, opening up the board and beginning to put together the pieces. "People have been playing chess since around 500 A.D. It isn't that complicated when you get down to it."

"It seems pretty complicated," Emmett grumbled, holding up a bishop and looking at it intensely.

"It's actually a lot like football," Edward said. "Well, basic strategy wise."

"How so" Emmett asked intrigued.

"Well, in football your ultimate goal is to get your players to the end zone to score a touchdown, right?" Edward asked.

"Yeah," Emmett nodded.

"In chess, your goal is to get your pieces across to surround the other player's king so he can't move," Edward replied. "It's like the king has the ball and the only way to get it from him is to surround him with your other pieces. The trick is not to lose your pieces to the enemy and that certain pieces can only move certain ways."

"Okay," Emmett said.

"And like football, you have to sort of anticipate what your opponent is going to do, what moves they are going to make so you can beat them," Edward said. "Being a couple steps ahead of your opponent, anticipating the way he might move, can help you win the game."

"Kind of like how out on the field we have to determine if the other team is going left, right, faking us out or what," Emmett nodded.

"Yeah, except you're moving pieces around the board not players around the field," Edward nodded.

"I think I could get the hang of this," Emmett grinned.

* * *

_11:33 a.m._

Rose smiled as she eavesdropped on the goings on in the day room. It was nice to see old men like Mr. Hadley and Mr. Smith getting some quality time with someone young like Jasper Whitlock. They didn't seem to mind his chipped black nail polish or unkempt hair because he was talking with them and enjoyed the same history programs. Of course, what Rose thought was sweetest, was Emmett McCarty learning chess from Edward Cullen. Emmett seemed very eager to learn and it seemed to her Edward Cullen was thrilled to be teaching. Cullen didn't have that many friends, after all, and was thought of as the school's biggest nerd. He was probably the second most picked on after Jimmy Hunter. Rose shook the thought out of her head.

However, it was nice seeing Emmett joking around with someone who usually was ignored by everyone else at school. Now that Rose thought back on it, Emmett wasn't like the other guys on the team, like Larry and Royce. He hung out with his same friends Tyler and Eric since he was a kid and had never given up on them even though Emmett had gotten embraced by the popular crowd. He had never been mean to her either or said anything bad about her once Royce started spreading those rumors about her around the hall. Rose grimaced, thinking about Royce. She didn't want to have sex with him because she wasn't ready, but it didn't matter. He broke up with her and then told everyone she was a slut anyway.

With a sigh, Rose headed to Ms. Cope's room to read to her. She wasn't on candy striper duty until later that afternoon, but she still thought Ms. Cope might be cheered up a bit by having a visitor for a few hours. After grabbing a quick lunch, she had driven up to the hospital to sit with Ms. Cope and read her the copy of _Gone with the Wind_ she had picked up from her mother's bookshelf. There was still no indication that Ms. Cope was going to wake up and even though the beeping of the monitors and all the wires freaked Rose out slightly, she pulled up a chair and began to read. Even though Ms. Cope couldn't move or talk, her presence made Rose feel less alone.

* * *

_12:50 p.m._

After a couple rounds of chess with Edward, Emmett was starting to get the hang of things. Unfortunately, it was lunch time and they all were herded back to their rooms for nasty hospital meals. Emmett had to admit the hospital's cafeteria food was even worse than what they typically served at Forks High School. Jasper decided to be boring after lunch and take a nap and Emmett decided to find something else to do. It was only when he heard a few of the nurses talking in the hospital did he realize his old buddies Tyler and Eric.

The two of them had been put in a room together not too far down the hall from where Emmett himself was. He wheeled into the room and was glad to find his buddies' yucking it up together like old times. Tyler was in a full on leg brace while Eric was wearing a cast with a sling on his arm. It was odd all of them having bullet wounds, but Emmett figured they'd gone through hard stuff before. They both looked up and grinned wildly when they saw him wheeling into the room.

"Hey man!" Tyler grinned. "Where have they been hiding you?"

"I didn't know you guys were here!" Emmett replied.

"Well, they're letting me out this afternoon to go home," Eric said, "but I'm not allowed to do anything. My mom won't even let me get a glass of water on my own!"

"It's true," Tyler grinned. "She made him drink his juice through a glass with a silly straw she held up to his mouth this morning!"

"Dude," Emmett shook his head. "I know what you mean. Jasper Whitlock's my roomie here and he probably knew all my childhood nicknames within five minutes of my mom showing up. She was like five minutes from bringing the baby books for him to look at!"

"So… you're rooming with Whitlock?" Eric asked worriedly.

"Yeah, so?" Emmett shrugged.

"Well, weren't he and Jimmy friends? Did he know about this?" Tyler asked. Emmett suddenly felt a little annoyed with his friends.

"He was friends with Jimmy, but they hadn't talked in months," Emmett said. "Jasper had no idea. And believe me, he's feeling pretty guilty that he wasn't able to use his non-existent psychic powers to predict Jimmy doing something like this. And Jasper's a cool guy. He doesn't get enough credit. You know he's Peter Whitlock's brother?"

"I kind of figured the only two Whitlock's at school were related," Eric smirked. Emmett gave him a fake punch in his good arm.

"Where is Whitlock now?" Tyler asked.

"Napping," Emmett said. "They're flying his dad in this afternoon, so he wants to be well rested."

"Flying him in?" Eric repeated.

"He's stationed in Afghanistan," Emmett replied.

"I had no idea," Tyler shook his head.

"I'm kind of worried about him," Emmett admitted. "Jimmy was like his only friend and when Jimmy stopped talking to him… He blames himself, you know. It's got to be hard having the guy who was your only friend at one time kill a whole bunch of people at your school…"

"Why'd Jimmy go after you?" Eric asked. "I mean, Tyler and I were just in the way but everyone else… they were like targeted man. He killed Larry and Royce and Vicky and her friends…Why you? You never picked on him…"

"No, but I tried to get the gun out of his hands," Emmett shrugged: "Kinda dumb, huh?"

"Kind of heroic," Eric snorted.

"You know, I think the only reason why Larry and Royce never picked on us is because you were in the way," Tyler pointed out.

"Totally," Eric nodded. "We'd be spending first period in our lockers like Jimmy and Jasper and the Cullen kid if you weren't so intimidating."

"What are you guys talking about? I'm a teddy bear!" Emmett laughed. "And Cullen's name is Edward."

"You rooming with him, too?" Eric laughed.

"Nah, but he did teach me how to play chess earlier today," Emmett said.

"There's someone in Forks who plays chess?" Tyler said, dumfounded.

"He's president of the school's chess club," Emmett shrugged. He'd never realized Tyler liked chess though Tyler had always been a bit of a science buff.

"Forks High has a chess club?" Tyler said.

"I'm sure he'd let you join," Emmett said. "Apparently, there's not much of a waiting list."

"Cool," Tyler nodded.

"We should hang out with him and Whitlock when we get out of this place," Eric nodded.

"Totally," Emmett grinned.

* * *

_2:58 p.m._

Jasper stared up at the ceiling of the hospital room. Emmett was back in the day room hanging out with his friends Tyler and Eric as well as Edward Cullen, who apparently needed a break from his overbearing mother. Jasper declined to join them, wanting to be alone for a little while. It had been nice having someone supportive like Emmett hanging around the past few hours to pull Jasper out of his darker thoughts, but now he really wanted to be alone.

He had made the mistake of turning on the news and quickly drew disgusted with the pictures of Larry and Royce in their football uniforms and Victoria's glammy Facebook photo. The media was portraying them like they were the All-American do-gooders and Jimmy Hunter was some sort of big, bad wolf. It was like the three biggest bullies at Forks High had attained sainthood after their deaths. Sure, Jasper didn't think they deserved to die for what they had done, but they were far from the perfect little angels shown on TV. He knew Victoria had a reputation as a blow queen and smoke and drank on the weekends. Larry and Royce weren't much better. Since he was a juvenile when it happened, Jasper guessed the media wouldn't find out about that freshman girl from Seiko who accused Royce of drugging and raping her at a party the previous year. No one else testified and the girl was pressured into dropping the suit by Royce's father's wallet.

There was a nice little display of pictures, flowers and candles at the flag pole at Forks High School, which was as close as people could get without being pushed back by the cops. Victoria's mother, Eleanor Katz, was on camera all teary-eyed in her Tammy Faye Baker makeup talking about her "Little Angel in Heaven" and how she wanted a full investigation of the school system and police department for letting a maniac loose on campus. Jasper had to turn the TV off before he hurled. If anyone had been the straw that broke the camel's back for Jimmy it had been Victoria. He was so in love with her when she threw him away like an old candy wrapper for more popular friends. Jasper couldn't stand the glorification of all the kids who had made his, as well as other lives, a living hell while Jimmy, who was a guy at the end of his rope, was being vilified. Every time Larry had punched him in the gut, every time Royce had forced him into his own locker and every time Victoria had tripped him in the hallway, Jasper had tried to remain calm and remind himself that karma would eventually bite them all in the ass. He figured the three had much more bad karma than he ever knew.

"Jasper," he heard his mother's voice. Jasper turned over and tried to sit up at the image of his mother, tears in her eyes, holding hands with his father, still in full military fatigues. Peter was standing behind them, an arm on their mother's shoulder.

"Hey, buddy," Randy Whitlock smiled at his son. He walked over and pulled his son into a giant hug. Jasper didn't even mind the slight pain in his arm. "How are you feeling?"

"A lot better," Jasper choked out. He was so glad Emmett wasn't around to see him crying like a wuss that his dad was home. "It hurts a lot, but not as much as yesterday."

"I'll bet," Randy nodded, ruffling his son's hair. "I was really worried about you, kid."

"I've been worried about you," Jasper shrugged.

"I'm sorry about Jimmy, son," Randy said softly. Jasper nodded.

"He wasn't in a good place," Jasper sighed. "I wish I could have helped him."

"You did your best," Randy shook his head. "You can throw someone a life line, but you can't make them take it." Jasper nodded solemnly, desperately trying to not start blubbering like a baby. "Your mother and brother told me what you did. That took guts, buddy. Real guts. Jimmy was lucky to have a friend like you, even if he didn't realize it."

"People keep calling him a monster," Jasper said. "It's hard to think of my only friend as a monster, you know?"

"What he did was monstrous," Randy conceded, "but I don't think Jimmy was a monster. I don't think Jimmy knew what he was doing."

"I'm glad you're here," Jasper told him.

"The doctor's said Jasper can leave tomorrow afternoon, but he is supposed to get as much rest as possible," Mary informed her husband. "Nothing over exerting and I think we should keep him home until Monday…"

"Why until next Monday?" Jasper grimaced.

"The first of the funerals is planned for Thursday morning," Peter said, knowing neither of his parents would address the situation in front of Jasper. "Larry's visitation is tomorrow night and so is the Marks kid…"

"I feel sorry for Austin's parents," Jasper said bitterly. "He was nowhere near as popular as Larry. I wonder if anyone will even come."

"Don't talk like that Jasper," Mary shushed her son.

"If it was me, Mom, no one would come," Jasper huffed.

"Mary, how about you and Peter go get something to eat, huh? Jazz and I have to catch up," Randy told his wife. Mary nodded and walked with Peter out of the room.

"What?" Jasper asked with a sigh.

"I don't like you talking like that," Randy informed his son. "I know you're upset. You have every right to be, but you're upsetting your mother when you talk like that. She was so scared she'd lost you yesterday, bud. We all were. You may be a teenager now, but she's always going to think of you as her baby boy."

"It's the truth," Jasper grimaced.

"It's what you think is the truth," Randy shook his head. "You know, she probably would get pissed if she knew I was telling you this, but your mother's been really worried about you these past few years."

"She has?" Jasper asked bewildered.

"Of course," Randy shrugged. "The whole dressing in black thing, the death metal… I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that, but it's scared your mother."

"Why?" Jasper snorted.

"You know your Uncle Bill died young," Randy said.

"Mom's brother? Yeah… he was like what… twenty?" Jasper said. "Weird accident or something… snapped his neck."

"Hung himself: In the basement," Randy replied. "Your mom was sixteen and found him. She's seen a lot of her brother in you. You're both artistic, you both like heavy metal and you both had friends that were… troubled. He was a little moody at times and don't dare say you aren't."

"I'm not going to kill myself, dad," Jasper groaned. "And you can tell Mom that, too…"

"I know, but after what Jimmy did… things like this make people see their kids in a whole new light," Randy said. "Do you honestly think Jimmy's mom would have let him out of the house if she thought he was capable of doing something like that? Do you think his folks would have kept their gun safe unlocked if they thought he was capable of something like that? Sometimes, people don't want to believe the worst about their kids. And sometimes, they really don't see it. Hell, your mom didn't believe Peter was growing up until she walked in on him choking the chicken when he was thirteen."

"What?" Jasper sputtered.

"Your brother may be smart about some things, but the kid never has gotten the concept of locking a door when he's doing his private business," Randy rolled his eyes.

"You don't have to worry about me, Dad," Jasper said. "Yeah, I'm angry about what happened… but I can't change it. I'm just going to learn to deal with it."

"And that's why you're my boy," Randy smiled.

* * *

**End Note:**

_The murder rate in Forks is based on my research. In fact, before the "Twilight" series was published, the murder rate in the area was surprisingly low, often with decade long stretches with no murders at all. Since the publication of the series, the rate has increased each year. _

_Post-traumatic stress disorder and "survivor guilt" are common feelings among school shooting survivors._

_In addition to nearly three-fourths of school shootings being related to bullying, studies found in most cases bullying claims were brought up to administration but school faculty either looked the other way or did not have the tools to deal with the situation._

_In 2011, a medical study proved there is a genetic link regarding suicide. The so-called "suicide gene" creates an imbalance of certain chemicals in the brain and, if a person possessing the gene becomes depressed they are even more likely to attempt suicide. Though genetic predisposition only accounts for some 40 percent of suicides, children of a parent who has committed suicide are three times more likely to commit suicide themselves._


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks to dowlingnana**

* * *

_The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living._

_ - Marcus Tullius Cicero, ancient Roman orator_

* * *

_Tuesday, April 15, 2008_

_3:45 p.m. – Forks Community Hospital_

Bella Swan nervously walked the hall of the hospital to find Edward's room. She and Alice had been dropped off by Alice's mom to go visit their classmates. Renee, pent up from watching the news and worrying about Charlie, had gone to volunteer at a local blood drive that had been set up to honor the victims. Alice's mom was helping out with Forks Lutheran, running care packages to families of the victims in mourning and in shock. Alice's sister Cynthia was going with her and Bella couldn't help but notice the two sisters – who normally fought like cats and dogs – were hugging each other a lot. Bella wondered if having a brother or sister of her own might have eased a bit of the pain of dealing with the situation.

Alice and Bella had both brought along gifts with them. Bella and her mother had made chess pie the night before since Bella knew Edward was a big chess fan. She felt a little geeky herself making one for him from scratch, especially after they had given him a pre-made chocolate pie the night before, though Renee insisted it was a sweet thought. Alice was mortified in retrospect at the thought of her get-well balloons and, unable to find something "Jasper-y" enough, she had finally just picked a spider plant out of the floral section of the grocery story. It was pretty large and Bella wondered secretly how Alice was able to manage the entire thing.

From the room where Jasper and Emmett were situated, they heard tons of loud booming laughter. One voice was definitely Emmett and the other they didn't recognize. Walking by, they spied a tall man with a sandy blond crew cut wearing military fatigues. It had to be the infamous Major Whitlock, Jasper's army dad who had been flown in special from the Middle East to be by his son's bedside. The Major was apparently telling the boys about some of the base antics, making Emmett and his parents guffaw. Jasper just looked on with a quiet smile, obviously beaming with pride at the man who was his father.

"You should go introduce yourself," Bella prompted Alice.

"I guess," Alice shrugged. "He is my future father-in-law after all."

"Oh God," Bella shook her head. "You've done it this time, Ali. You've started planning your wedding to Jasper already?"

"Planning our wedding?" Alice huffed. "I've got the names of our first four children picked out already."

"Only four," Bella smirked.

"Well, it depends on what size house in Paris we can afford," Alice shrugged. Bella shook her head. "Hey, it never hurts to dream, does it?"

"I'll catch up with you later," Bella said to Alice, spying Dr. Cullen heading into Edward's room.

"Okay," Alice nodded, turning into Jasper's room with the spider plant on her hip.

Bella smiled at her friend and then walked over to Edward's room. Before she could knock to announce herself, Bella heard Edward and his father talking. She knew eavesdropping wasn't right, but their conversation seemed pretty important. Bella didn't want to interrupt and was also nervous about just barging in to the room.

"I heard what Dr. Gerandy said, Dad," Edward said, annoyed. "He said I could go home tomorrow morning."

"At the earliest," Dr. Cullen replied to his son. "It is my opinion you should stay at least one more day. We can take you home during the day Thursday."

"Your personal opinion or your professional opinion?" Edward asked his father, an eyebrow quirked. Carlisle paused for a moment.

"Both," he said. "And it would make your mother much more comfortable if you stayed…"

"And what about how I feel about it?" Edward challenged. "I'm not very comfortable in the hospital. There's nothing really to do, the food isn't that great and I'd much rather be at home with my own stuff… using my own shower… not getting woken up at midnight because Mr. Morrison in the next room over is launching his bed pan at the nurses and cussing them out…"

"Edward…" Carlisle sighed.

"And they're letting Jasper Whitlock, Emmett McCarty _and _Tyler Crowley go home tomorrow and they're injuries are like mine!" Edward said. "They already let Eric Yorkie go! It's not fair!"

"What their parents have chosen to do is their business," Carlisle shook his head. "Your mother and I have decided for you to stay here. End of discussion."

"I didn't have a discussion! The two of you had one and didn't include me," Edward fumed. "Doesn't my opinion count for anything?"

"Edward you are still a minor…" Carlisle began.

"In a month, I'll be eighteen," Edward pointed out.

"Edward, your mother and I have decided and that's final," Carlisle said harshly. There was a quiet period between the two of them.

"Fine," Edward relented. Taking a deep breath, Bella finally got the courage to knock on the door.

"Come in," Carlisle called, encouraging Bella to step through the door. Carlisle smiled warmly at her, as if he hadn't just been arguing with his son: "Oh, hello Bella."

"Hi," Bella waved nervously, not sure what to do. "I uh… brought a pie… it's a chess pie… because I know you like chess…" Bella felt like an idiot.

"Thank you, Bella," Carlisle said, taking the pie from her graciously. "We'll just store this in the mini fridge for a while."

"Okay," Bella nodded as Carlisle put the pie up, and then turned around.

"Thanks," Edward said to Bella appreciatively.

"How are you feeling?" Bella asked.

"Much better," Edward said, glancing at his father. "I feel like I could go home today, but they're keeping me here." Carlisle opened his mouth to say something but shut it.

"That's too bad," Bella nodded.

"So, how are your folks Bella?" Carlisle asked.

"Busy. And Dad is really stressed right now," Bella sighed.

"I can understand," Carlisle nodded. Edward seriously did not want to do this in front of his father.

"Dad, don't you think you should find Mom? She's been gone for a while…" Edward suggested.

"I'm sure she's just…" Carlisle began before catching the glower from his son. He smirked. "…down in the cafeteria getting a snack. I'll go see if I can track her down…" Carlisle ducked out of the room, trying to hide his grin at the thought of his son being embarrassed about a girl.

"So, what am I missing in the outside world?" Edward asked curiously as Bella sank down in the chair by his bed.

"Nothing good," Bella sighed. "Larry and Austin's visitations are tonight. The funerals are tomorrow. And apparently Royce's visitation is tomorrow night as well as Samantha Wells'."

"I don't even know who she is," Edward admitted.

"I didn't either until I saw the obituary page today," Bella sighed. "My mom tried to hide it this morning, but I found it."

"I guess there's an upside to being in the hospital," Edward sighed. "I don't think I could show up at Larry or Royce's funerals and pretend I felt bad in front of their families. I mean, sure, they shouldn't have had to die, but I didn't like them. You can't exactly go to a guy's funeral and tell his mom that you don't think he should have died, but he was still a major dill weed and deserved to be taken down a few pegs, at least."

"Yeah," Bella sighed. "My folks have to go to all of them since Dad is police chief, which sucks because they're holding the visitations at the same time and then the funerals and visitations tomorrow are scheduled around the same time… And it's just going to drag out since there are only two funeral homes in town. And apparently Jenson and Withers is the more prestigious funeral home or whatever. Two of Dad's officers had to break up at a fight between Tanya and Victoria's moms because they both wanted their daughters' funerals done by Jenson and Withers first but they had already booked and… I shouldn't have brought her up, should I?"

"Tanya's old news for me," Edward shrugged. "I think… I think she was only with me because my parents have money and she thought that meant I would spend a bunch of money on her, but my parents hardly give me enough allowance to pay for gas to and from school. To be honest, by the time she broke up with me I was just relieved that she was doing it. I mean, I didn't want to hurt her feelings, but every second she was around me all I could think about was how I was going to get away from her. I suppose I'm going to have to make an appearance at her visitation if my parents let me. Her parents are nice. And her little sister really is a sweetheart. She really looked up to Tanya even if Tanya wasn't the best person."

"I'm really hoping my parents don't make me go to Victoria's," Bella sighed. "You're right about facing the parents. I mean, I couldn't look her folks in the eye without thinking about how much she bullied me. I mean, what do I say? The last conversation I had with your daughter involved her teasing and insulting me?"

"I don't know what Jimmy saw in her," Edward grimaced. "I guess she's like Tanya. She was different before… and then she wound up in the popular crowd and… changed…"

"Or maybe she was always that way and he didn't want to believe it," Bella shrugged.

"I guess," Edward nodded. "Anyway, thanks for coming to visit me. I know you don't have to…"

"I want to," Bella shook her head. "And not… not just because you saved my life, you know? I feel like… I can really talk to you. I like talking to you."

"I like talking to you, too," Edward smiled.

"My mom's got me pretty busy tomorrow," Bella sighed, "but do you think I could come by and see you once they take you home?"

"I'd like that,' Edward grinned.

* * *

_4:18 p.m._

After reading to Ms. Cope for a while, Rose began her rounds with the afternoon snacks. She had smiled and chatted with Tyler Crowley and his mother for a while. Eric had apparently been well enough to go home, which Rose was glad for. She had also gotten trapped in the room talking with Esme Cullen, who interrogated her about her work as a candy striper before mentioning to her annoyed son Edward that he might want to consider volunteering if he was going to pursue a medical career like his father. Rose sucked in a deep breath before walking into the room Jasper Whitlock and Emmett McCarty were sharing. She was very surprised to find Emmett alone.

"Hey," Emmett said at her with a lopsided grin.

"Did they let Jasper go home?" Rose asked.

"Nah, he's in the day room with his family for a little privacy," Emmett replied. "His dad's back."

"I heard," Rose nodded. "I'm sure he's glad."

"Major Whitlock is a cool guy," Emmett agreed. "I wouldn't think Peter and Jasper were brothers just by putting the two of them together, but if you put them with their dad you can totally see it."

"Where are your folks?" Rose asked.

"Working," Emmett grimaced. "Apparently, all the local hotels are booked up with journalists and people coming in… for the funerals… so they're pretty busy."

"That sucks," Rose nodded. "So… I guess you aren't making it out for Royce or Larry's visitation."

"Yeah, I guess I have a pretty good excuse," Emmett said. "Honestly, I don't think I could handle going to any of the funerals… even if they were guys on the team… I just… It's like I've had all the sad I can for a while, you know?"

"I know," Rose nodded. "My mom's making me go tonight. She said it's 'the right thing to do.' I don't know… I want to go to Austin's, too. I don't know if anyone will go to his because Larry's is at the same time. And then there's the whole deal with Vicky and Tanya…"

"Yeah, I heard their moms got into a big fight over who gets the better funeral. Like seriously?" Emmett shook his head.

"I don't know if I could go and be sad for them," Rose sighed. "I don't want to go to Royce's even if he is my ex. I mean, seriously, how can I go to the funeral of the guy who told the whole school I'm a whore because I wouldn't do him?"

"I don't know," Emmett sighed. "So…uh… how'd you become a candy striper?"

"My mom and grandmothers both were. And I've thought about becoming a nurse or a doctor," Rose shrugged. "Besides, it's good volunteer work. I get to feel like I'm helping…most of the time."

"What do you mean most of the time?" Emmett asked.

"I've been… reading to Ms. Cope," Rose sighed.

"How's she doing?" Emmett asked curiously.

"She's in a coma and they can't do anything because she doesn't have any family and she's all alone and…" Rose sighed. "You know, she called 911? Jimmy shot her first, but she still managed to call 911. She tried to save all of us… and now she's hooked up to all of these machines…" Rose began to tear up. "I mean, she doesn't have anyone. And she's so nice. She's always been so sweet and it's just not fair that all these hundreds of people are going to Larry's funeral even though he was the biggest douche on campus but no one can even spare five minutes to come by and see Ms. Cope, you know?"

"I know," Emmett nodded with a slight smile. "But she's got you coming to visit her, right?"

"I guess that counts for something," Rose sighed.

"I think it means a lot," Emmett said. "I think it'll mean a lot to her when she wakes up."

"If she wakes up," Rose sighed.

"I think she'll wake up," Emmett said. "She may not seem like it behind all of those kitten sweatshirts and her pens with the flowers on the ends, but I think Ms. Cope is a real fighter."

"I hope so," Rose smiled.

* * *

_7:15 p.m. - Forks Memorial Funeral Home_

Charlie Swan sighed as he and his wife walked into the small funeral home on the other side of Forks. They had just left the massive funeral at Jenson and Withers for Larry Belancourt. The entire town seemed to be out for the star quarterback, most of the guys on the team are in uniforms matching the one Larry was being laid to rest in. As macabre as it sounded, Charlie had to admit the funeral home had done a good job trying to cover up the two bullet wounds in Larry's forehead. After giving his condolences, Charlie had gotten caught up in some small talk, but managed to break away and pick up his wife, daughter and grab a quick meal at the dinner before heading to the Marks funeral.

Charlie Swan was not at all surprised to see there weren't many people who had come. Mrs. Marks and her husband were crying together with their daughter Heather, who was a senior at Forks High. It seemed all of the other teachers and all of the other kids from school were at Larry's funeral. It was just the Marks family including both sets of Austin's grandparents and some other miscellaneous relatives in the visitation room. The visitation had only been going on for fifteen minutes, but it seemed like no one else would come. With a sigh, Charlie offered his condolences to the family and held on to his wife and daughter as they did the same.

When the door creaked open Charlie was surprised to find the Brandon's coming in with their two daughters followed by Dr. and Mrs. Cullen. Alice waved and Bella and the two girls walked together to give each other a hug before going to look at the casket. Charlie found himself engaging in some pointless small talk with Austin's grandparents as Dr. and Mrs. Cullen approached.

"We are so sorry for your loss," Esme Cullen comforted Theresa Marks.

"Edward wanted to be here, but he's still confined to the hospital," Carlisle Cullen nodded. "He wanted us to pass on his condolences as well."

"Is he doing better?" Craig Marks asked.

"Yes," Esme nodded.

"Thank you for coming," Theresa said, tears in her eyes.

"If you need anything, let us know," Carlisle assured them both. Charlie couldn't help but smile a little. The Cullen's were good people.

Charlie and his family stayed much longer at the Marks funeral than the fifteen minutes Charlie had spent at Larry Betancourt's. The Cullen's and the Brandon's stayed for a while too. Even Major Whitlock and his wife showed up, saying that Jasper wanted them to come. It was a small party and probably pitiful compared to the hundreds of people that were across town at Jenson and Withers, but Charlie felt the people in this room meant their condolences much more. He escorted his wife and daughter out to his squad car at the end of the night. Just as Charlie started the engine, Renee surprised both her husband and daughter by bursting into tears.

"Why didn't anyone come?" Renee demanded to know. "Why isn't anyone here for them?"

"They're all at Larry's funeral," Bella answered bitterly before Charlie could. "Larry was popular. Austin wasn't. Everyone thinks Larry is some sort of hero. All he ever did was bully Jimmy and Jasper and he shoved Edward in his locker that morning and… He doesn't deserve to have all those people mourning him!"

"Bella," Charlie cautioned. "Larry might not have been perfect, but that doesn't mean he deserved anything."

"I know," Bella said quietly. "But Austin was nice and polite to people. He'd help you pick up your books if you dropped them in the hall… and no one remembers him. No one came to say goodbye to him."

"How can Theresa Marks do it?" Renee shook her head. "She's lost her baby and no one… no one cares… no one came…"

"We came. And the Cullen's and the Brandon's and the Whitlock's," Charlie pointed out. "But you're right, Renee. There is something wrong with no one coming to a young man's visitation, especially a young man whose only mistake was going to school like he was supposed to Monday."

"I wouldn't want all those people anyway," Bella said.

"What do you mean?" Renee asked her daughter.

"If Jimmy hadn't missed… if he had gotten me," Bella said. "Everyone probably would have come to my funeral like everyone is going to Larry's. And everyone would have told you how great I was, even people who never said two words to me… even people who I tried to avoid in the hallways and who teased me…"

"Bella… you were… teased?" Renee said, in shock. Charlie stiffened.

"Vicky, Tanya, Jane and their whole crew… they'd always stop by my and Alice's lockers every morning and tease us," Bella shrugged. "They'd call me Shabby Swan and tease Alice about being an Art Freak and one time Vicky started this rumor that I get all my clothes out of the dumpster behind Goodwill in Port Angeles and…"

"Baby… baby why didn't you tell us this," Renee said in disbelief.

"Because anytime you would tell Principal Greene they were teasing he would just say he couldn't prove anything and couldn't punish them," Bella said. "And when people brought their parents to school, he'd say the same thing and then he'd pull them in for a conference, so they'd know someone had ratted them out and they'd be even meaner afterwards. They could get away with it because they made the school look good. Not to mention Victoria's parents threaten to sue everyone claiming the school was singling out her daughter rather than addressing the root of the problem or whatever."

"I can't believe… I can't believe things like this are going on at Forks!" Renee shook her head.

"Yeah, Tanya once almost got busted for having pot in her locker, but then she paid a freshman fifty bucks to hide it for her before they did locker checks and the kid got expelled," Bella nodded.

"Oh God," Renee shook her head. "Charlie… how could this happen here?"

"Harold Greene has a lot of explaining to do beyond this, Renee," Charlie said. "And that's all I'm going to say about that."

"Okay," Renee sighed, still not satisfied.

"And Bella, if anyone ever does anything like that to you again, you are to come straight to me, understand?" Charlie said. "I don't care if you think you're ratting someone out. You better come to me. And you better encourage your friends to do the same."

"Yes Daddy," Bella nodded.

* * *

**End Note**:

_Studies have proven installing medical detectors in schools does not decrease the likelihood that students will bring weapons to school. Students who are determined to commit acts of violence will do so despite preventative measures. An FBI report found a "one-size fits all approach" to school violence does not prevent violence in schools either._

_More school shootings in the U.S. than in any other country in the world. California is the state with the most recorded school shootings._

_There is no set profile for students who commit school shootings such as age, socioeconomic status or motivating factors. The FBI said the only common denominator with school shooters is they all plan their shootings in advance. After 25 years of research, an FBI report found there "is no reliable way" to pick out a school shooter from other students. _


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks again to dowlingnana**_  
_

* * *

_The deepest definition of youth is life as yet untouched by tragedy. _

_– Alfred North Whitehead, English mathematician and philosopher_

* * *

_Saturday, April 19, 2008_

_10:30 a.m. – Cullen Residence_

Lazily, Edward pattered about the kitchen, making himself a sandwich and fishing a bag of chips out of the pantry. His mother had him confined to bed rest in his bedroom by the downstairs guest bedroom, not wanting walking up and down the stairs to aggravate his injuries. She had made sure his laptop, video game systems and everything else he might possible need was installed downstairs, but Edward found it hard to sleep in the bright yellow bedroom with flowers on the comforter. He longed for his own bedroom with his cool blue sheets and the Star Wars posters hanging above his bed.

Of course, being at home was ten times better than sleeping at the hospital, enduring all of the beeping machines and listening to the nurse's jet down the hallway every time Mr. Morrison unplugged himself and attempted to escape out the window of the day room. Being in the hospital just depressed him, especially after everyone else was given the okay to go home. It was just him and comatose Mrs. Cope, which didn't make for very good conversation. However, Rosalie Hale had shown up every day to read to Mrs. Cope for an hour.

The one benefit to being on indefinite bed rest was that Edward got to skip all of his classmates' funerals. Sure, it sounded grim, but Edward didn't think he could handle one morbid funeral after another, watching kids his age slowly lowered into the ground over and over again, sometimes even twice or three times a day. And of course, he didn't think he could sit through the eulogizing of people like Royce, who had garnered sainthood in death despite the fact that his last major act on earth was locking Edward inside his own locker. Edward didn't want to think about Tanya.

Once he had thought she was a nice girl, sweet, and even shy but after seeing her simpering face smiling up at him from the obituary, he couldn't help but remember how she'd acted after she had worn her cheerleading uniform to school that first Friday. Not only had she acted like she didn't know who he was but she led the charge in teasing him. The same girl he had taken out on a romantic picnic lunch at the park had turned on him, calling him names like "Nerdward" and asking him if he rolled in grease to get the small line of zits on his forehead. She had egged Royce, Larry and Mike on when they teased him about "most likely having a pencil dick." Edward wanted to remind Tanya that he had been her first French kiss, but he knew she would turn it around on him, probably say they had never done anything below the waist because he was gay or something.

"Edward? What are you doing out here?" Carlisle asked his son curiously, emerging from where he had been watching the golf previews in his office.

"I was hungry," Edward said, lifting up his sandwich as way of explanation.

"If your mother sees you…" Carlisle began.

"She's out in the garden," Edward shrugged. "I didn't want to bug her."

"You're supposed to be resting," Carlisle reminded him.

"I'm sick of resting," Edward grumbled. "I think I'm getting bed sores."

"I seriously doubt that," Carlisle laughed. Edward folded the newspaper he had been reading and Carlisle caught a glimpse of Tanya's face. "Do you… want to go tonight, to her visitation?"

"I don't know," Edward sighed. "I don't even think Tanya would want me there, you know?"

"I'm sure it would mean a lot to her parents," Carlisle offered.

"I thought I wasn't well enough to leave the house," Edward pointed out.

"You should at least think about it," Carlisle said. "I'm sure your mother would agree to let you go if you wanted to."

"So… is there any word on school? Are we just out for the rest of the year?" Edward asked, hoping to change the subject.

"They haven't announced," Carlisle shrugged. "I've been told the school is closed indefinitely because it's a crime scene. There has been talk of sending you all to a different school to finish out the semester. The school board is apparently having an emergency meeting Monday afternoon to determine what to do."

"Yeah… I don't think a lot of people probably want to go back into that building so soon," Edward admitted. "I'm having a hard time just thinking about walking down the main hallway."

"They'll work something out," Carlisle assured his son. "They've already set up counseling for anyone who wants to go."

"Really?" Edward asked skeptically.

"It's voluntary, but they are asking all students to attend," Carlisle nodded. "It's mandatory for faculty and they've got a group for parents as well. It's sort of a group therapy thing. They're setting it up in the basement of the community center."

"Is that your way of saying you and mom want me to go?" Edward asked curiously.

"It's entirely up to you," Carlisle shrugged.

"It might be a good idea,' Edward admitted.

"Good," Carlisle nodded. "They're starting Monday at ten in the morning. Your mother and I think it would be good for us to go as well, help us understand and deal with it as well."

"Okay," Edward nodded. "Do you… do you think you could talk to mom about letting me back in my own room? All that yellow in the guest room is making me go blind. And… you know… flowers…"

"I'll see what I can do," Carlisle smirked.

* * *

_10:45 a.m. – Whitlock Residence_

"Therapy," Jasper protested. "What? Do you think I'm a whack job now or something?"

"Jasper, please, calm down," Mary Whitlock said to her son quietly.

"So what, I get to sit on a couch and tell all my deep dark secrets to some quack that gets off by telling everyone all of their nightmares are about penis envy?" Jasper shouted.

"Jasper, please," Mary sighed.

"What's next, huh?" Jasper fumed, "A padded cell?"

"Jasper Samuel Whitlock you will not talk to your mother that way," Randall ordered in his drill sergeant voice. Jasper immediately quieted and sat down in the chair across from his parents. R.J. continued. "I will have you know some of the best men I know, some of the men who would have willingly given their lives for me out in that God forsaken desert go to therapists and counseling. What they saw and what you saw aren't that different. Your mother and I think it would be best if you went to these group therapy sessions the school system is sponsoring to help you deal with it."

"I don't want to go," Jasper pouted. "I feel fine."

"Son, physical healing and mental healing are two different things," Randall said. Jasper still wasn't convinced and his father sighed. "Would it make you feel better to know I see a psychologist?"

"What?" Jasper perked up.

"Once a month in Port Angeles," Randall nodded. "He specializes in post-traumatic stress disorder. I've been seeing him since… well, since you and Peter were little. When I came back from Desert Storm… That first time after I came back from the Gulf was bad. I came home and would wake up in the middle of the night screaming… and then as soon as your mother had convinced me that there weren't any enemy combatants coming at me, you or your brother would be screaming because I had been screaming… Or I'd hear you crying over the baby monitor and have flashbacks… It got so bad that one night I had your mother in a chokehold, thinking she was an insurgent. After that, I knew I had to do something. I was fine physically, but my subconscious wasn't exactly 100 percent."

"How come I didn't know about this?" Jasper asked.

"You were too little to remember. You and Peter both," Mary shrugged. "And we never… well we never thought there would be a situation where it would come up…"

"Believe me, son, I don't want to leave you and your mom and Pete when they ship me back in a week, but I would feel a lot better going back if I knew you were getting all the help you need," Randall said.

"Okay," Jasper sighed. "I'll go."

* * *

_11:30 a.m. – Swan Residence_

"I still don't know how it got out," Charlie Swan groaned as the TV anchor continued her report.

"_A person identifying themselves only as a school staff member at Forks High School sent copies of shooter James Hunter's personal school file to all members of the media early this morning," _the anchor stated_. "Now, the school's principal, Harold Greene, is under intense local and media scrutiny for questionable practices leading up to the school shooting. Records indicate Hunter reported he had been bullied by several of his victims at least a dozen times in the month prior to the shooting, but his complaints were dismissed by Greene and other school administrators. Greene even gave Hunter detention twice for making these complaints, saying the shooter was 'seeking attention.' Though Greene previously told media he was unfamiliar with the shooter, records indicate Greene met with the shooter sixty-eight times this past semester alone regarding bullying complaints, detention, and failing grades. Teachers filing disciplinary complaints against the shooter recommended the county's student psychologist visit with Hunter, but Greene ignored at least ten requests from different teachers and staff members to have Hunter evaluated. Many parents in the community are now calling for an investigation into Greene's practices as principal as well as for his resignation. A statement issued from the Clallam County School system said there will be an internal investigation into…"_

"Those are supposed to be private. They can't just give those files out," Charlie gaffed. "As if I didn't have enough pressure with this retrospective investigation now they're going to have to ask us to find out what bozo leaked this."

"It wasn't your fault," Renee assured her husband; "Probably just some employee with a feud with Greene. I suppose this gave them the perfect time to make him look bad…"

"He was already looking pretty bad," Charlie admitted. "The feds have indicated they feel the biggest blame in this situation was the failure of the school to identify and rectify Hunter's issues. I suppose a lot could have been done to prevent this…"

"So, Bella, have you given it any thought?" Renee asked, delicately trying to change the subject.

"The group therapy" Bella asked. "I think… I think it would be good. I think I'll go. I mean, I don't know what I'll say, but I think it could help."

"Good," Charlie nodded. "And you know you can talk with your mother and I about everything, too."

"I know," Bella shrugged. "But I think it might be easier to talk with a stranger too, you know? Someone who's not… emotionally involved I guess. Are you guys going?"

"I will. Your father still doesn't think he'll have the time," Renee sighed.

"I think you should go, Daddy," Bella said. "You're always talking about how you have to be an example for the community…"

"I know, Bells," Charlie sighed.

"And if anyone needs support from the community in dealing with this, I think you're at the top of the list," Bella said. "I think it might encourage other people who need to go to see you there."

"She's very smart, our daughter," Charlie smirked at his wife. "Guess she gets that from you, huh?"

"I think our Bella is the best mix of both of us," Renee replied.

* * *

_12:08 p.m. – Brandon Residence_

"So, what do you girls think?" R.J. Brandon asked his daughters.

"Well, I'll go if Alice goes," Cynthia shrugged.

"I'll go," Alice nodded. "I think… I think it'll be good."

"Okay," Ann smiled. "Your father and I are planning on going to the parents' group as well, so we'll make it a family thing, hmm?"

"Sure, Mom," Alice nodded.

"Alright, well, the lawn isn't going to mow itself," R.J. sighed, getting up from his chair.

"You wanna help me paint my nails, Ali?" Cynthia asked her sister.

"Okay, Sissy," Alice smiled, bounding up the stairs after her younger sister.

Ann Brandon smiled as she watched her two daughters laughing together. It seemed like when Cynthia hit sixth grade her daughters' relationship had gone from best friends to mortal enemies. They fought constantly, Cynthia accusing Alice of embarrassing her in public and Alice demanding her parents prevent Cynthia from developing friendships with people Alice thought were a bad crowd. Initially, Ann hadn't seen anything wrong with Cynthia's sweet-looking, clean cut friends, but in the wake of the entire shooting incident, Ann realized these seemingly innocent kids were not all they were cracked up to be.

The fact that the three young football players shot in the bathroom showed trace amounts of marijuana and alcohol in their autopsy results had somehow been released to the public, along with various stories about the "power elite" at Forks High School bullying the majority of students. If these kids could so easily drive a student to shoot up the school, Ann was worried what they felt they could get away with in their own circles of friends. She would definitely be taking a closer look at the friends Cynthia made from now on.

Ann knew there was still a lot of pain in the community, a lot of issues she still hadn't begun to deal with. She didn't know how her daughters would be able to return to their old school building without being haunted by what happened there. Ann herself still got a cold shiver down her back whenever she had to drive past the school. For now, Ann was just relieved that this tragedy had brought her beloved daughters back together.

* * *

_1:30 a.m. – Olympic Resort Bed and Breakfast_

"So… I just go and tell them my feelings and shit?" Emmett asked, sitting around the "parlor" table in his parents' bed and breakfast.

"Yeah," Liam McCarty nodded. "I guess that's the gist of it…"

"Seriously, you two," Maggie McCarty rolled her eyes. "It's more than that. You'll be talking with your fellow students… it's supposed to help you deal with things, to get out anything negative. The school board is recommending every student go."

"I'm not going to get graded on this, am I?" Emmett asked.

"No," Liam shook his head.

"But it's like mandatory?" Emmett asked.

"It's voluntary," Maggie replied. "But we think you should go. Your father and I will be going to the parent's session at the same time. I think… I think it would be good for all of us."

"Are they at least going to have lunch?" Emmett asked.

"The story in the paper said there would be light refreshments served," Liam shrugged.

"Why do McCarty men only think with their stomachs?" Maggie lamented to no one in particular.

"I guess I could do it," Emmett shrugged. "Do you think coach will be there? I want to talk to him about prep for the upcoming season and…"

"I think football is going to be on hiatus for a while," Liam replied. "Apparently, there's debate on whether or not they're even going to open up the school next year."

"What? They're just going to close down Forks High? Where will we go then, huh? The middle school?" Emmett snorted.

"There has been talk off sending all of you to the tribal school just until something new can be found," Maggie shrugged. "I think it's a bit extreme."

"The school is in twenty-twenty hindsight mode," Liam sighed. "And since the news of the principal came out this morning…"

"What news?" Emmett asked curiously.

"Apparently, someone leaked to the media Jimmy Hunter's personal file, which is supposed to be sealed," Liam sighed. "The school board was considering disciplinary action against Principal Greene before, but there's renewed pressure because of the report."

"Because he ignored Jimmy," Emmett nodded.

"How did you know?" Maggie asked.

"It was an open secret," Emmett shrugged. "Everyone knows you don't go to Greene if you've got a problem with someone picking on you. The only reason they laid off Tyler and Eric is because I told them too. You wouldn't believe the stuff they'd pull on Cullen and Whitlock and… and Jimmy."

"How come you never told anyone?" Liam asked his son.

"Greene wouldn't listen," Emmett shrugged. "Everything was either 'hearsay' or 'your word against his.' All the man cares about are his test scores and when his lunch break is."

"He seemed nice enough to us," Maggie admitted.

"Of course he did," Emmett huffed. "I'm on the football team. If you make his school look good, you can do no wrong. If you're someone like Jimmy Hunter who needs him to actually get off his ass and do his job, he hates you."

"I wish you had brought this to us sooner," Maggie told her son.

"And what would have happened?" Emmett shrugged. "You would have filed a complaint, it would have been looked at and all his buddies up at the central office wouldn't have done anything. At least now maybe they'll pay attention when someone says their being bullied."

"It shouldn't have had to come to this," Liam sighed.

* * *

_2:07 p.m. – Forks Community Hospital_

"Just a sec, Mom," Rose said, taking her hair down out of her customary candy striper ponytail and taking off her pink candy striper polo shirt. She pulled down the white tank top she wore under the shirt and smiled softly at her mother. "Ready!"

"Oh, hello Vera," Nurse Jackie smiled, returning to the nurse's station. "It's nice to see you. Taking Rose home?"

"Yes," Vera nodded. "How are things?"

"Busy," Jackie sighed, "but Rose is such a big help. She's so sweet with all the patients. And I have to say, she's been especially wonderful with Mrs. Cope. What did you read today, Rose?"

"We finished up _Gone with the Wind_," Rose said. "I've already done _To Kill a Mockingbird_, and I'm thinking about bringing _A Room with a View_ for next week. I don't know if she can actually hear me, but it lets me feel like I'm doing something."

"It's helping. I'm sure," Jackie assured her.

"Well, we should head out," Vera smiled. Vera draped her arm around her daughter, guiding her out the front door and to the car in the rather empty hospital parking lot. Vera sighed as a slight drizzle began. It was just par for the course in Forks, but Vera was forever forgetting her umbrella.

"You know, mom, they're doing group counseling sessions for all the students," Rose said. "The school board is urging everyone to come… to help them deal with the whole… thing… They even have sessions for parents who want to sort out their feelings."

"That's nice," Vera nodded.

"I think… I think I want to go," Rose said.

"Want to go where?" Vera asked, unlocking the car.

"To the group counseling on Monday," Rose said, sliding into the passenger seat. Vera quickly ducked into the driver's seat.

"Rose… you don't need counseling," Vera said.

"I think I do, Mom," Rose shook her head. "I just… I want to have someone to talk to about this…"

"You have me and your father," Vera said.

"A professional," Rose said. "Look, Mom, I love you and dad, but there is some stuff I just don't feel comfortable telling you. And can you seriously see Dad wanting to sit down and have a frank conversation about feelings?"

"Your father is rather… unemotional," Vera conceded.

"A lot of the kids from school will probably be there," Rose shrugged. "I feel like this is something I need to do to move on… to heal… I just… I want to go."

"Okay," Vera sighed. She was quiet for a moment. "Would it make you feel better if I went with you? To the… you said there was a parents group?"

"Yeah," Rose nodded. "You can go to it, or you can just wait for me or whatever."

"I'll think about it," Vera conceded.

"Thanks, Mom," Rose smiled.

* * *

**End Note:**

_Jasper's middle name is a reference to Samuel Houston, who was a major figure in my home state of Tennessee and a founding father of Texas. Jasper, apparently, also is not fond of the psychiatric theories of one Sigmund Freud._

_Though Candy Stripers used to be famous for their pink dresses and jumpers, many hospitals have modernized and now allow candy stripers to wear pink polo's and white pants, scrubs or other less 1950s-esque uniforms while they work. _

_Gone with the Wind is more than 1,000 pages long and was the only major work published by Southern writer Margaret Mitchell. The book also makes the character of Ashley much more of a jerk than he is portrayed in the movie._


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks to dowlingnana**_  
_

* * *

_There's no tragedy in life like the death of a child. Things never get back to the way they were._

_- Dwight D. Eisenhower, American president and general_

* * *

_Saturday, April 19, 2008_

_7:30 p.m. – Jenson and Withers Funeral Home_

Edward had desperately wanted out of the house, but he had to admit he wasn't exactly thrilled that Tanya's funeral was the only activity his mother deemed serious enough to permit her son out of his bedroom. The entire funeral itself was odd. The mortuary specialists had apparently not been able to repair all of the damage done to Tanya's body by the bullets, so it was a closed casket funeral. However, Tanya's parents Irina and Philip had compensated for the lack of their daughter's physical visibility by bringing hundreds of photos of her, including one that was just about life-size. They were hanging everywhere. Edward noticed none of them depicted the shy, wisp of a girl with braces he had gone out with for about a month. They were all pictures of the popular Tanya with overdone makeup and tight clothes. He sighed and looked back to find his parents talking quietly with Tanya's.

It was an open secret between the families that Tanya had ended things and then completely ditched Edward for the popular crowd. Though Irina thought Edward was a nice boy, she hadn't really been that upset when Tanya dumped him for a more popular crowd. She wanted her daughter to be the all-American princess, the popular girl dating the jock. Philip had been a little more annoyed with his daughter for breaking things off with the nice doctor's son, but he had dealt with it. Edward had to admit he was glad he had learned of Tanya's true colors before getting more emotionally invested in the relationship and his father felt the same way. Esme, however, still held a grudge against Irina believing that the woman had done nothing to prevent her daughter from breaking Edward's heart. Edward had insisted he wasn't heartbroken, but his mother thought he was just trying to be brave.

Moving past the funerary display, Edward spied Tanya's younger sister standing alone in a corner of the room. Kate was sort of the same person Tanya had been the year before. A sweet-faced freshman with glasses- braces and who didn't have many friends. She had really looked up to Tanya and Edward had a sense that in all the trauma the family had experienced over losing their oldest daughter their younger one might have been forgotten. Putting on as brave a smile as he could muster, he approached Kate.

"Hi," Edward said.

"Hi, Edward," Kate replied back shyly.

"How are you holding up?" Edward asked.

"Day by day," Kate sighed. "I'm mainly trying to just deal with my folks. Dad is quiet and never says anything, and Mom just… she locks herself in her room most days and breaks down into crying jags. She saw so much of herself in Tanya that it's been hard for her to deal with."

"I'm sorry you're in the middle," I nodded.

"There are a lot of her friends here too," Kate said. "And a lot of them keep telling me how great Tanya was. They wouldn't be speaking to me if she was still here. It's so weird. And people who never talked to her keep telling my parents how much they liked her or that she was their best friend… If Tanya was here, I'm sure she'd be throwing a fit that Mom and Dad dared allow some of these people into her funeral. And then there is the whole shit with Victoria's mom…"

"What happened?" Edward asked.

"She and mom got into a fight because Vicky's mom scheduled her funeral when Mom wanted to schedule Tanya's and Vicky's mom wouldn't let up and Mom didn't want to have competing funerals… so she's mad because we had to delay it and now she's annoyed that they're letting another visitation happen across the hall…" Kate sighed.

"Who's?" I asked.

"Dr. Banner's," Kate said. "I slipped out to go. There's actually a lot more people there than this one. You know, he saved his entire class."

"I heard," Edward nodded. He was being waved over by his father and Edward sensed it was time to go. "Well, see you around, Kate."

"Bye," Kate sighed.

Edward joined his parents who were getting ready to leave, but stopped them before they hit the door.

"Dr. Banner is having his visitation here too," Edward said. Esme and Carlisle looked at each other briefly, both having heard about the heroic teacher.

"We should pay our respects," Esme nodded.

The three of them walked in the room across the hall only to find it standing room only and the line for the display out the door and into the hallway. Not deterred, the Cullen's got in line and twenty minutes later finally found themselves in front of Beverly Banner and her daughter Stacy, who had flown in from California for her father's funeral. Esme had hugged them and Carlisle shook their hands. Edward managed to offer up some quiet words about what a great teacher Banner was and how he would be missed. After passing the casket, Esme and Carlisle caught up with some of Carlisle's colleagues at the hospital who had come. Edward spied Bella Swan sitting with Alice Brandon in one corner of the room. He didn't really know anyone else or feel comfortable to talking to a lot of the kids from school assembled there, so he went with the two girls he sort of knew.

"Hi," Edward said shyly.

"Hi," Alice replied with a grin.

"How are you doing?" Bella asked.

"Better," Edward said. "My leg still hurts a bit, but I think that's more because I haven't really been using it."

"Oh, there's Jasper. I'm going to say hi!" Alice said cheerfully, jumping up out of her seat. Edward and Bella both followed her as she flounced over to where Jasper, his parents and older brother had just walked into the room.

"So… you guys hang out with Jasper a lot?" Edward asked.

"No, but Alice has a huge crush on him," Bella said before covering her mouth. "I totally didn't tell you that. Alice would kill me."

"Okay," Edward nodded.

"You should sit," Bella said, "not put so much stress on your leg." Edward looked around, as if looking for an excuse, and then slid into the seat next to Bella.

"So… uh…How've you been?" Edward asked nervously.

"Okay," Bella shrugged. "Dad's been wiped out with all the investigation and he and mom have been going to all the funerals… I just… I couldn't handle it. But I felt like I had to come here. Dr. Banner was a great teacher."

"He was," Edward nodded.

"I think I'm going to Riley's tomorrow, too," Bella said.

"Yeah," Edward agreed. "I was just... at Tanya's…"

"Oh God, here I am blathering on," Bella shook her head. "Are you… okay?"

"Yeah, it was kind of weird… I mean, I hadn't spoken with her in like a year and a half," Edward shrugged. "And we only went out on like five dates. Not to mention she kind of called me a loser and spread all these rumors at school about me being a shitty boyfriend and possibly being gay. So it was kind of weird talking to her mom and being sad and stuff…"

"Were there a lot of people there?" Bella asked.

"Not as many as I thought," Edward shrugged. "Then again, I don't think Tanya had as many friends as she really thought she did and Tanya's parents don't wield any power in this town like Victoria's folks do. I mean, her dad just owns a machine shop. Vicky's mom is PTA president and her father is a lawyer and on the town council. Of course everyone would come out to hers."

"I've noticed they haven't really gone to anyone else's… other than Larry and Royce's," Bella shrugged.

"They probably don't care," Edward sighed.

"What up my homies?" Emmett bellowed, plopping into a chair behind them. His buddies Tyler and Eric soon took the seats on either side.

"Hi, Emmett," Edward said quietly.

"Hello," Bella said.

"Hey man, you've _got _to tell me how you got this big lug to play chess," Tyler said to Edward. "I've been trying for _years_ to get Emmett to play chess and you do it in one sitting. You and I have to go _mano-a-mano_ some time."

"Okay," Edward said, a little surprised.

"Are you doing okay Bella?" Emmett asked her. "How's your dad?"

"Busy," Bella sighed. "Have you guys heard anything more about school?"

"I thought you'd have the inside track on that," Eric admitted.

"No," Bella shook her head. "After Jimmy's file got leaked and Principal Greene being on paid leave because of that… let's just say the school system hasn't been too cooperative. They think someone at the station leaked it, but everyone said it was someone who worked at the school…"

"I bet it was Vicky's mom," Emmett said. "I'm sure she's got all sorts of little spies in the school." Emmett lifted up his hand and waved. "Hey Jazz man!" Jasper waved back, a little confused and Alice, who was standing right next to him, blushed bright red.

"Ah, my mom's giving me the 'we gotta go signal'," Tyler groaned. "See you guys around…"

"How are you doing, by the way," Bella asked Emmett.

"Getting by," Emmett shrugged: "No worse than some of my football injuries, honestly. Of course, I'm worried that coach won't see it that way. Still, with school temporarily canceled that means football is temporarily canceled too. I just… it's kind of stressful. I usually get my frustrations out on the field…"

"And by losing badly to me at video games," Eric teased.

"Yeah," Emmett laughed. "I don't know… I'm just hoping to get up with him soon…Well; it was good talking to you guys. See you around." Eric raised his eyebrows and shrugged at Edward and Bella before getting up and rejoining his parents. None of them noticed where Emmett had disappeared.

* * *

_7:49 p.m. _

Rose hadn't been able to take it. One look at Dr. Banner all laid out there in his suit had just made it too real. She hadn't gone to any of the other funerals and she hadn't planned on going to Dr. Banner's. However, she had taken his classes and unlike Ms. Goff, who was kind of rude to her in the halls, Dr. Banner was understanding and appreciated Rose for her brain. He had also encouraged her to look into medicine as a career and helped recommend her as a candy striper.

Now, he was in a coffin and his wife and daughter were inconsolable. It was too hard for Rose to handle. She had been to one funeral before. It was her Pop-Pop Hale's when she was six and she hadn't really understood the whole thing. She kept waiting for Pop-Pop to wake up out of the box he was sleeping in. Two weeks later, she asked her mother if they could go to Pop-Pop's house that weekend only for her mother to explain Pop-Pop wasn't there anymore. Rose didn't know why she couldn't stop crying, but she felt ridiculous sitting there on the mock-Louis XIV couch in the funeral parlor hallway.

"Hey… you okay?" Emmett McCarty asked her, leaning up against the door. "I saw you run out and I just..."

"I'm fine," Rose said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands. "I just… you know… it just got to me…"

"It's okay," Emmett nodded, sliding into the seat beside her. "Funerals are tough. You know, I haven't really been to one since my grandmother died when I was twelve. I mean, she had Alzheimer's ever since I could remember and always called me 'Frank' after her long-dead brother, but it was still tough letting her go."

"Dr. Banner was a good teacher," Rose said with a sniffle. "He never did anything to Jimmy. He would have helped him if he had known… It's just not fair."

"I know," Emmett shrugged. "I guess… I mean, I'm sure if you asked him Dr. Banner would do what he did again. And I'm sure he's flattered to know everyone remembers him for what a great teacher he was. He was really brave. I don't know if every teacher would sacrifice themselves like that."

"Yeah," Rose sighed.

"So… is the hospital boring now that I'm gone?" Emmett grinned.

"It's quieter," Rose smirked.

"I bet," Emmett laughed.

"Thanks for talking with me Emmett," Rose smiled.

"Ready to go, Rosie?" Vera Hale asked her daughter.

"Yeah," Rose smiled.

"See you around," Emmett nodded.

* * *

_8:03 p.m._

"So, does it still hurt a lot?" Alice asked Jasper as the two of them leaned up against a wall in the funeral parlor, watching everyone else walk back and forth between the casket and Mrs. Banner.

"When I bend," Jasper said. "I knocked my fork off the table at lunch and I wasn't thinking so I bent over to get it… Pain was so bad I about fell out of my chair. It sucks."

"Sorry," Alice said. "So… are you going tomorrow?"

"To the funeral; No… I just… I don't think I can take it," Jasper sighed. "I've got to steel myself up. Besides, I think Riley's visitation is around the same time. I kind of… feel obligated to go, you know? I mean, tons of people showed up for this and everyone else's, but Riley…"

"Wasn't exactly popular," Alice smiled. "And small towns don't exactly look kindly on people who are different."

"Yeah," Jasper said.

"So… what are you steeling yourself up for?" Alice asked him curiously.

"Monday," Jasper sighed.

"Are you going to the counseling thing?" Alice asked.

"Yeah… but that's not…" Jasper sighed.

"What is it? You can tell me," Alice assured him.

"They're burying the Hunter's Monday afternoon," Jasper said quietly. "All of them: Including Jimmy. I think Jimmy's grandma is the only one coming, but she's old and in a wheelchair so… I don't expect anyone else to come. But Jimmy… he was my friend."

"I haven't seen anything on it," Alice admitted.

"They didn't run any of the obits in the paper," Jasper said. "There isn't going to be a visitation. I guess they figured no one would come or if they did come… it'd only be to spit on Jimmy's grave or something. They're even burying him in the very back of the cemetery, you know? Out of sight, out of mind I guess…"

"So… when is it?" Alice asked.

"Three," Jasper sighed. "Ms. Goff's is at ten and Riley's is at one. My mom talked with Jimmy's grandmother. She was so upset she didn't even think about funeral stuff and by the time she did everyone was all scheduled up. They aren't going to have a service or anything. Just bury them there and say a few words."

"It's sad," Alice nodded.

"In a way, I'm almost glad Jimmy's folks didn't live to see this," Jasper sighed. "I mean, can you imagine what it would have been like for his mother to go to the grocery store every week and have everyone stare at her? Knowing that her son had been the one who… And his little sister… she would have been bullied relentlessly at school. At least his grandma lives in Tacoma and probably doesn't have to worry about things like that. Still, I can't imagine how hard it is for her. Knowing her grandson… Everybody always talks about how hard it is for victim's families to cope, you know? But I can't imagine what it would be like if that guy… if the shooter was my brother or something. How do you live knowing that?"

"I don't know," Alice sighed, watching her sister giggle with a few friends. "I think I'd have a hard time believing I was so close to someone and never once suspected they could do something like that…"

"Jimmy and I used to hang out every day after school in middle school and freshman year," Jasper admitted. "My mom would bring us milk and cookies while we played video games. I never thought… all those years… I never thought he could hurt anyone. The guy… he didn't even kill bugs, you know? A spider got into my room once and he picked it up and tossed outside. I would have just squashed it." Jasper sighed. "It's like… It's like I don't know who he was."

"I don't think any of us did," Alice shrugged.

* * *

_8:45 p.m. – Swan Residence_

"So… how's Edward?" Renee asked her daughter as they walked into the house.

"He's fine," Bella said quietly: "Still healing up. He was kind of a little shaken up because of Tanya…"

"He liked her?" Renee asked.

"They dated for like a month last year," Bella shrugged. "But then Tanya got popular and ditched him."

"Apparently that happens a lot in high school," Charlie gruffed, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Jimmy and Vicky" Bella nodded. "Apparently, that was a bunch of high drama I always seemed to miss."

"Is it true he put love notes in her locker?" Charlie asked his daughter curiously.

"Probably, though I'm pretty sure the whole him playing the stereo over his head outside her window one night was stolen from that Eighties movie," Bella said. "And I used to doubt the whole him sending her a blood covered white rose on Valentine's Day, but now I'm not sure."

"No, that one's false," Charlie sighed. "I never knew the most stressful part of my job would be separating the fact from the fiction on kid's Facebook pages."

"Edward seems nice," Renee interjected.

"He is," Bella nodded. "And I mean, well, he did save my life."

"You know, there is an ancient saying that if you save someone's life you are responsible for them forever after," Renee commented. "Everything they do after you save their life becomes your responsibility."

"So, if I get a D on a test I can blame Edward Cullen?" Bella asked.

"No," Charlie snorted. "And I don't think that excuse would fly in the court of law. Of course, that's just my professional opinion."

"Still, I think it's an interesting concept," Renee sighed.

"And on that, note, I am going to bed," Bella smiled. She kissed her mother on the cheek, gave her father a hug and walked up the stairs. Charlie got up to put his cup of coffee in the sink and Renee smiled.

"You should at least give her a head start before you go check on her," Renee said.

"What do you mean?" Charlie huffed.

"I know that every night this week, just before you go to bed, you've crept into our daughter's room to make sure she's okay," Renee smiled. "Just like you used to when she was little and it would storm or you'd have a bad dream."

"Lately it seems my life is the bad dream," Charlie sighed, plopping down at the table next to his wife. Renee frowned.

"You know… I realized… that I never… I never told you I was sorry," Renee said. "For Phil… for… what I did…"

"Renee…" Charlie began dismissively.

"No. You deserve an apology," Renee said, shaking the tears out of her eyes. "The least you deserve is an apology. I'm sorry. I am _so _sorry. I just don't know what I was thinking… we've been married for almost eighteen years and I just threw it away like…"

"Renee…" Charlie said, taking his wife's hands in his. "I know. I forgive you. We are going to work through this, okay?"

"I haven't seen you since I told you, since I promised you I wouldn't see him again," Renee swore. "And when I saw him today at the funeral I just… I just felt so disgusted with myself. And then I saw Bob there in his coffin and I just thought it could be you or Bella… I could be a widow or I could have lost my baby girl and I just… I just… I couldn't deal with the thought of losing you when I have so much to make up to you… I just want you to know that you and our daughter are everything to me and I will work my ass off if I have to just to keep you both. I'll do anything…"

"Let's start with drying your eyes," Charlie smiled, "and maybe a goodnight's sleep."

* * *

**End Note:**

_An estimated six out of ten children witness bullying at least once a day in their school environment, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. _

_According to the National Association of School Psychologists, 160,000 students per day stay home from school because of bullying. One out of ten students drops out of school due to bullying. _

_Bullying victims are twice more likely to commit suicide than non-bullied children._

_A poll found 57 percent of students do not report bullying to authority figures. When asked why, 25 percent said it was because they felt adults "wouldn't do anything."_

_On average, teachers intervene in a bullying situation only four percent of the time. An estimated one in four teachers said they "don't see anything wrong" with bullying. _


	10. Chapter 10

_**Thanks to dowlingnana**  
_

* * *

_The bitterest tear shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone_

_– Harriet Beecher Stowe, abolitionist and writer_

* * *

_Sunday, April 20, 2008_

_Forks Memorial Cemetery_

The irony did not escape Jasper Whitlock.

The entire Hunter family was being buried on April 20, a notorious day Jimmy had oddly been fixated on now that Jasper thought about it. Jimmy's parents had been married on April 20 and Jimmy seemed to take that as a sense of foreboding for their marriage. After all, it was Hitler's birthday and the date of Columbine. The year before, Jimmy had even talked about the weird workplace shooting at NASA. Jasper couldn't shake the thought off his head. Maybe if he had listened more. Maybe if he had caught a certain word or nuance he could have prevented everything.

He had insisted on going to the funeral. With the rainy weather that afternoon, it was doubtful that Jimmy's grandmother would even be able to make it out in her ill health. It just didn't sit right with Jasper that his one-time friend would be laid to rest with no mourners. He didn't want to see that for Mrs. Hunter or Morgan either, the bright happy girl who Jimmy had adored. Of course, Mr. Hunter could rot in hell for all Jasper cared.

His mother had been against it at first. She didn't think it would be a good idea considering the media attention for them to show up. She didn't want Jasper to be further bullied by anyone at school for attending the shooters funeral. Jasper tried to explain to his mother that the bullies were either dead or on life support. She still didn't like it. However, Jasper's father thought it was admirable of his son to be there for his friend, even if Jimmy was now more than ever a pariah.

Jasper was surprised to see his family wasn't the only people there on the hill in the cemetery that day. He had been expecting Pastor Webber to be there to say some words, but he hadn't been expecting to see Charlie Swan, his daughter Bella and Alice Brandon there as well. It was a small band; nowhere near all the thousands that had turned out to say their farewells to Royce or Larry or Vicky, but Jasper felt this was a much more heartfelt gathering.

"Jasper," Charlie Swan nodded at him. He went over to shake Randall's hand and give Mary a light hug before clapping Peter on the back. Charlie and Randall began speaking in hushed tones while Pastor Webber made idle chit chat with Mary Whitlock. The hearses had not yet arrived with the caskets.

"Hi," Bella said to Jasper quietly.

"I wasn't… expecting anyone to be here," Jasper admitted.

"My dad wanted to come," Bella said. "He felt someone needed to be here. And I came with him… because I thought he might need me and Alice…"

"I wanted to come," Alice replied quietly.

"Yeah" Jasper asked.

"Everyone deserves to have someone at their funeral," Alice shrugged.

"Pastor Webber said Mrs. Hunter would be coming?" Bella asked questioningly.

"Jimmy's grandma," Jasper nodded. "She lives in an assisted care facility in Tacoma and hasn't been in the best of health lately. I can only imagine what this must have done to her."

"Does she have any other family?" Alice asked.

"I think Jimmy had an aunt and uncle who live in Colorado, but they didn't want to come out for this," Jasper shrugged. "The family wasn't particularly close. I think there was a falling out when Jimmy was little."

"And his mother's side?" Alice asked. Jasper looked at the four pre-dug graves and sighed.

"She didn't have anyone," Jasper said. "That's why she never left. Through all the abuse… she felt like she had nowhere to go and nowhere to take Jimmy and Morgan…" He trailed off in time to see two hearses making their way up the drive.

A still, almost eerie silence fell over the cemetery as the hearses rolled up to the grave site and several men hired by the funeral company got out and began bringing up the caskets. They began getting the caskets ready over their assigned graves so they could easily be lowered at the end of the ceremony. It was the first time Jasper dared look at the tombstones. They were all vague with names and dates. Jimmy's dad was laying on the outset, followed by his mother, Jimmy himself and then his little sister. Jasper smiled a little, knowing Jimmy would probably like his eternal resting place to be beside the mother and sister he had loved so much.

It was hard to see those caskets rolling up. The adult-sized coffins bearing Jimmy and his parents were hard enough, but Jasper about broke down when he saw the tiny little casket carrying Morgan. Jimmy said she had always been short for her age, a tiny little girl with never enough meat on her bones. She was waif-like and barely above four-foot tall. The casket was tiny and it hurt Jasper physically to see it. He still couldn't reconcile that Jimmy had killed his baby sister, the one thing that was always the bright spot in his life. He swallowed the rising lump in his throat as her casket was put over the hole in the ground where she would be laid to rest. Jasper felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to find his father giving him a comforting smile.

Just as the caskets were put into their proper position, another tiny car pulled up right behind the hearses. A nurse got out of the passenger seat and with the help of the driver, managed to get a frail old woman into a wheelchair. Jasper determined the woman had to be Jimmy's grandmother. She had his eyes but she looked so sad and bedraggled that Jasper couldn't determine how old she was. She seemed to be in her nineties at least. The nurse wheeled her up the path to the gravesite and she took in the site of the four tombstones and matching caskets with a heavy sigh.

"Mrs. Hunter," Pastor Webber said, offering her his hand and a pat on the shoulder. She smiled up at him and then gazed back down at the caskets before her, a far off look in her eye. Shortly afterward, Pastor Webber began his eulogy.

Jasper's attention faded in and out through the brief eulogy Pastor Webber gave. The emphasis was on forgiveness, but Jasper didn't care to listen to too much of that. Bella and Alice were holding hands and had somehow gotten a hold of the flowers his mother had brought. Jasper watched Grandma Hunter seeming to sway back in her wheelchair, listening to round tones of Pastor Webber's voice, but her eyes never straying from the caskets in front of her. It was only when Pastor Webber began delivering Psalm 23 that Jasper found himself mouthing along, just like his mother, Chief Swan and Grandma Hunter as if of their own accord.

"_The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want._

_He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:_

_He leadeth me beside the still waters._

_He restoreth my soul:_

_He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name' sake._

_Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,_

_I will fear no evil: For thou art with me;_

_Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me._

_Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;_

_Thou annointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over._

_Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,_

_And I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever."_

Jasper could only watch as Bella, Alice and his mother began laying down the roses on the caskets as they began to be lowered and Alice, with her sweet smile, handed a spare rose to Grandma Hunter, who accepted it with tears in her eyes. Pastor Webber closed his Bible, signaling the end of the service and the gravediggers began coming toward the area to finish their duty. The nurse looked ready to wheel back Mrs. Hunter to the car when the frail old woman spoke.

"You are my Jimmy's friends?" Mrs. Hunter asked, looking between Bella and Alice and Jasper.

"Yes, ma'am," Jasper nodded, wishing he could choke down the emotions he was feeling. Mrs. Hunter extended her shaking, boney hand and Jasper took it in his own.

"You are Jasper, aren't you?" she smiled.

"Yes, ma'am," Jasper nodded.

"My Jimmy always talked about you when he came to visit me," Mrs. Hunter smiled. "He said you were his best friend."

"We are best friends," Jasper nodded. Two perfect pearl drop tears flowed from Mrs. Hunter's eyes.

"My Jimmy needed a good friend," she nodded. "I'm glad he had one." She gave Jasper's hand a squeeze before letting it go and then turning to the assembled party. "Bless you all for coming. Bless you."

She turned to her nurse and nodded and then the nurse wheeled Mrs. Hunter back to the van, escorted her inside and they quickly drove off. Jasper found himself watching the van disappear through the front cemetery gates. The heavy sensation that had been sitting on his chest since Monday suddenly felt lifted a little. It was like he was breathing on his own again for the first time in a long while.

Jasper felt his fathers' hand on his shoulder and he turned, smiling up at his father slightly. He turned back to see Chief Swan in conversation with Pastor Webber as well as Bella and Alice talking with his mother and older brother. The gravediggers were waiting for everyone to leave so they could get to work themselves. Randall seemed to notice and spoke up.

"You know, we were heading to dinner at the Chinese place in Port Angeles after this," Randall said to Charlie. "Would you and the girls like to join us?" Charlie surveyed the two girls and smirked.

"Well, Bella can go and as long as Alice's parents say its okay, I suppose she can," Charlie said. "I've got to get back home."

"Me as well," Pastor Webber agreed. "I never miss the missus' Sunday roast."

"Sure thing, Charlie," Randall nodded. "We'll probably have them back by eight… unless we go for ice cream."

Alice squealed and then went off to call her mother in another part of the cemetery. With her mother's approval, Alice jogged down to the Whitlock's minivan and tumbled in behind Bella. Jasper noticed how his brother Peter conveniently took the captain's chair-style seat beside Bella forcing Jasper to sit in the back with Alice. Jasper glared at his brother through his shaggy hair, but Peter only smirked and then started asking Bella if Forks had ever been featured on COPS and for her father's funniest arrest stories. As Bella began regaling Peter with the tale of the bear that broke into the local convenience store and ate $1,000 worth of hot dogs out of the deep freeze, Jasper fiddled with his hands in his lap, trying to figure out something to say to Alice.

"I don't think I've ever seen you in a tie before," Alice commented, as if reading Jasper's mind. Jasper looked down at the black button down, black pants and silver tie his mother had gotten on him that morning. He had to admit ties weren't his style, but he felt Jimmy was worth the effort.

"I think this is the only one I actually own," Jasper said. "I usually borrow them from my dad or Peter. We're kind of the same size."

"My sister and I are the same size, but we would never wear each other's clothes," Alice laughed. "I guess that's because my mother used to dress us alike all the time."

"Mom would put me and Peter in the same clothes to get our pictures taken," Jasper nodded.

"No, I'm talking all day. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week," Alice shook her head. "Up until I hit kindergarten and then I wasn't having it any more. I think that's when I figured out that not all moms dress all their kids alike. I suppose my mom had fun while it lasted."

"Yeah," Jasper nodded.

Things suddenly got quiet between the two. Randall continued to tell a funny story about him and his buddies overseas to Peter and Bella, but his voice didn't carry enough to reach Alice and Jasper in the backseat. Alice shifted herself around next to Jasper. Her black flapper dress was cute, but it was starting to become a little hot amid the warm weather and her slight embarrassment at being in such close proximity to her crush. She sucked in a deep breath and decided to ask the inevitable.

"So... how are _you _doing with all this?" Alice asked him.

"What do you mean?" Jasper asked, feeling a little uncomfortable himself.

"I know Jimmy was your best friend," Alice said. "And I know it's got to be hard on you... hearing all the things people are saying about him... I mean, Bella's my best friend and I know I'd be really pissed if people were talking about her... you know..."

"It's weird," Jasper admitted. "I've got this dichotomy in my brain, you know? It's like there's the Jimmy who was my friend, the cool guy I played video games with who used to love eating gummy worms and pushing his kid sister on the swings on the playground. But then there's this completely different guy who shot me and a whole bunch of our classmates because he couldn't handle stuff anymore. I mean, I don't know why he did it. I look at myself and I see a lot of Jimmy in me, which is the scary thing."

"What do you mean?" Alice asked.

"Well, his dad was always at the bar, which isn't so different from my dad always being overseas," Jasper shrugged. "And yeah, my dad would never raise a finger to my mom, but it's still hard with him not being there for stuff. And Jimmy and I were both bullied by the same people and we both were ignored by Greene and all his staff when we tried to point it out and... And my dad has a pretty well stocked gun safe for his hunting rifles that I happen to know the combo to. Why was it he snapped when I didn't?"

"I think Jimmy had a lot more going on than just that," Alice said. "He was... sick right?"

"He was off his meds," Jasper acquiesced, "but that was his dad's fault. If he hadn't shown up drunk too many times he wouldn't have lost his job and Jimmy wouldn't have lost his health insurance. And I mean... it was tough for Jimmy... getting told he couldn't go into the army."

"What do you mean?" Alice asked. Jasper sighed.

"Jimmy... kind of looked up to my dad in a way," Jasper said. "Dad took us camping and was always nice and asked Jimmy about his day and school when he came over. Jimmy saw my dad as the type of man he wanted to be, the type of father he wished he had. And he wanted to go into the military... sort of like to be my dad. We both went to the recruitment office, but they took one look at the list of all the meds he was on... depression, bipolar disorder... they wouldn't take him. Said it was too high risk. And Jimmy, Jimmy thought enlisting was his out. He wasn't going to get any scholarship because his grades were so low and his grades were so low because it's hard to do your homework when your drunken dad is clobbering your mom in the kitchen. Even if he got a job, he still didn't want to think about leaving his mom and his sister at home and... I know how he felt. He felt backed into a corner. Like no one cared, like every door was closed to him...I wonder if it was just because he couldn't see his life past graduation or if maybe he was really resigned to the fact that nothing was going to change for him: Ever!"

"You didn't know," Alice assured him. "You had no idea..."

"I mean... sometimes Jimmy talked about how he'd like to take his dad out, but I think that's understandable," Jasper sighed. "I never saw him suicidal or threatening to kill anyone else... I mean, yeah, he'd make jokes about wanting to kill Royce and Larry and Mike, but I did too. I think everyone they stuffed in a locker or gave a swirly to wanted to too. I mean, the guys spray painted cocksucker on Jimmy's locker. I can understand wanting to get in a couple of swings at them or more... but he was never violent or anything... I mean, I guess I never saw him off his meds."

"Yeah, but you didn't know that," Alice said. "And it's not like you could have broken into a pharmacy or gotten them for him."

"Vicky's the hardest thing," Jasper said. "Sure, she was a queen bitch, but Jimmy adored her. I mean, she hung the moon for him. He'd do anything she told him too. I honestly thought if he ever killed anybody it would be because she wanted him too. He was devastated when they broke up. I tried talking to him about it, and at first he was broken up but then he became convinced that he was going to get her back. I mean, I took him seriously because he seemed pretty serious... I just... I wonder now if maybe that was it. Maybe she really shot him down after that and it just spiraled out of control. I could totally see him coming up with this elaborate scheme to get her back and her not responding. Vicky was his other thing, you know? He seriously thought they were going to get married and stuff."

"It's hard to believe they were together..." Alice said. "I mean, I saw them in school and stuff, but after she started hanging around Tanya and Jane and the rest it was like he didn't exist to her. I could see her acting like a bitch if she was just a wronged ex-girlfriend or something but... I don't know..."

"That's the worst part, too," Jasper admitted. "I'll never know because Jimmy and Vicky are the only people who know what happened between them and neither one of them are going to be talking about it any time soon. It's like trying to put together a puzzle piece where half the puzzle is missing."

"I know... I know it's got to hurt," Alice said. "But at least you tried... you know? No one else really tried. Not the school and not his parents... but you tried to help him. Jimmy was really lucky to have you; Even if he didn't even realize it himself."

"Thanks, Alice," Jasper nodded. "That means a lot to me."

Alice smiled and ever so slightly, her fingers crept across the leather of the backseat to link with Jasper's. A slight blush on his face, Jasper rearranged his hand, taking Alice's hand fully in his own.

* * *

**End Note: **

_Following the Columbine massacre, 15 crosses were erected near the school to memorialize everyone who had died in the shooting. So outraged was the public that two crosses had been erected for the shooters that the man who erected the crosses was forced to take them down in the middle of the night to prevent vandalism at the site. The crosses were vandalized before he arrived anyway._

_The phrase "ashes to ashes, dust to dust" is not from the Bible but rather the English Book of Common Prayer. So is the wedding phrase "dearly beloved." Psalm 23 is one of the most popular verses to read at funerals._

_School shootings account for less than 1 percent of violent crimes or incidents committed on school grounds. _


	11. Chapter 11

_"When I stand before thee at the day's end, thou shalt see my scars and know that I had my wounds and also my healing." _

_- Rabindranath Tagore, Bengali writer and Nobel Prize winner_

* * *

_Monday, April 21, 2008_

_9:45 a.m. – Forks Community Center_

Bella was always early for these sorts of things. She was usually early for school and tried to be the first one in her desk before the bell rang and always tried to have her assignments completed and turned in as early as possible. Not knowing what to expect with her first counseling meeting, Bella had made sure she and her mother had arrived early. Bella had also brought a notebook and some pens in her bag just in case. Bella waited outside the downstairs classrooms, which would be used for the student sessions, while her mother got some coffee and mingle with the adults already waiting in the gym on the main floor. Bella could see a group of people setting up outside the various downstairs classrooms and figured they were the counselors who had been brought in.

In her bag, Bella had also brought a book along while she waited. She had just flipped open the first few pages of _Hard Times_ by Charles Dickens when she heard whine of the chair cushion across from her, signaling someone had taken a seat there. Over the top of her book, Bella saw a nervous looking Edward Cullen glaring at a crutch. He only had one and from the look on his face, Bella could tell Edward didn't want the crutch that he had. His pants also bloomed out, giving full outline of the bandages on his upper thigh. With his hands in his lap, Bella couldn't tell if Edward was twiddling his thumbs or having a thumb war with himself.

"Hi," Bella said with a slight smile.

"Hi," Edward said, pushing his glasses up the brim of his nose.

"Are those new?" Bella asked.

"Yeah," Edward nodded. "I had to wear my old pair around all weekend. Its good actually having a pair that matches my vision again."

"Has it been a while since you had new ones?" Bella asked.

"Eighth grade," Edward shrugged. "My vision is kind of shot. Mom thinks its video games."

"Are your parents here?" Bella asked.

"Yeah," Edward nodded, "but Dad has to go to work immediately afterward."

"Mom's here and Dad is supposed to meet her," Bella shrugged. "We might go out for lunch afterward. It's still pretty busy for Dad."

"I can imagine," Edward nodded.

* * *

_9:50 a.m._

"What if they don't put us in the same group?" Cynthia asked worriedly as the two of them walked into the building together.

"It'll be okay," Alice assured her sister. "They might divide us up by age and then you'll be with people in your class…"

"But what if I don't know anyone?" Cynthia asked.

"Then you'll meet some new friends," Alice said. Cynthia bit her lip, still not convinced. Alice sighed. "Okay, just try it today and if you really hate the arrangement, I'm sure we can talk to them and get us both put in the same group."

"Okay," Cynthia nodded. "So… what do you think they'll want us to talk about?"

"I don't know," Alice shrugged. "I guess how we feel and stuff… they'll probably give us some tips on dealing with it… We'll just have to see."

"What do you think Mom and Dad will talk about?" Cynthia asked.

"Probably about how to deal with us," Alice said. "I'm sure they probably don't know the right way to treat us. Dad's acted like we're both made of glass and mom and her crying jags… I just hope they can get back to normal."

"Do you think they'll be letting us back to school soon?" Cynthia asked.

"I don't know Sissy," Alice sighed as the two of them walked down the steps. A few of their schoolmates were already waiting and Alice waved to Bella, who smiled and waved back from her conversation with Edward Cullen. Alice also waved to Rosalie Hale, who came in from the opposite door with a big sweatshirt on. Rose smiled and approached the two Brandon sisters.

"Hi," Rose smiled.

"Hi," Alice said.

"I'm going to go say hello to Kate," Cynthia whispered before separating from her sister.

"You and your sister look a lot alike," Rose commented.

"Funny," Alice smiled, "up until a week ago Cynthia would have been mortified if anyone found out we were related."

"A lot has changed," Rose nodded.

"How's Mrs. Cope?" Alice asked.

"No change," Rose sighed dismally. "I've read to her every day… even when I'm not on duty… but she hasn't changed. The beeping gets kind of annoying, like those machines are taunting you or something. I just… I wish she had family or something. I can't imagine what it would be like… in the hospital all alone." Alice nodded.

"I don't know how you do it," Alice admitted. "Hospitals... kind of creep me out, you know? I just... I have a hard time going in there and thinking about people hurting and dying... It's creepy."

"I'm worried about her," Rose said. "I'm worried... that if Mrs. Cope doesn't get better... they might... I don't know... She's a fighter, but I have a hard time seeing it for myself. I just go in there every day hoping for something... a finger twitch... anything..."

"Don't give up, Rose," Alice reassured her.

"I don't know why it means so much to me for her to get better," Rose sighed. "It's just... I don't know what I'll do if she doesn't get better. I don't know what I'll do if she... I can't even say it..."

"I'm sure things will get better," Alice said. "There's something special about Mrs. Cope."

* * *

_10:59 a.m._

"Oh, good," Emmett grinned, slapping Jasper on the back as he walked up the stairs behind his parents. "I thought I was the only person going to roll in late."

"Hey," Jasper grinned slightly. His parents looked over their shoulders at him and then, nodding, went into the building together and left Jasper to talk with his friend.

"I'm glad you're here," Emmett sighed. "Eric and Tyler didn't want to come and I was worried I wouldn't know anyone. Tyler's mom is sending him to a specialist in Port Angeles and Eric doesn't 'do' therapy, according to him."

"I'm just here because my parents are making me," Jasper grumbled as the two of them turned a corner and headed down the staircase leading to the basement. "The quicker this gets over with the better."

"I don't know, dude," Emmett shrugged. "I think this might be good, you know? It's just tough for me to handle that this happened at my school on my own."

"I guess," Jasper snorted.

Just as Jasper and Emmett arrived, the state-appointed therapists came out and started asking students to sign up by grade. Emmett and Jasper fell into line behind Rosalie Hale, who was talking with a more subdued than usual Alice Brandon in low tones. Emmett shifted his weight back and forth from one leg to another as they waited in line, making Jasper a little nervous. Once the signups were completed, the therapists took them up and then went into their little classrooms for a moment. Jasper leaned up against a wall and found Emmett following suit. Jasper raised his eyebrow at Emmett, wondering why the beefy football player was following his Goth ass around. Jasper wasn't the only person wondering why Emmett was hanging out with the creepy Goth kid. The whispers had gone up in the room as soon as they walked in together. Jasper grimaced to himself, annoyed that his schoolmates couldn't get over their cliquishness even after that had happened.

"How's your side holding up?" Emmett asked Jasper.

"Hurts only when I put pressure on it," Jasper said. "Freaked my mom out the other morning; I rolled onto my side in my sleep and when I woke up some blood had leaked through my bandage and onto the sheets… My brother at least tried to make a joke about it so I didn't feel so bad."

"I can't change my bandages around my mom," Emmett said. "She passes out at the sight of blood. And I'm sick of all the journo guests at the inn trying to interview me about 'my experience'. I got shot, it sucked, what else do you want me to say?"

"I know, right?" Jasper sighed.

"Dude… is everyone staring at me?" Emmett asked worriedly. "My fly isn't unzipped or something is it?"

"I don't think…" Jasper began just as a tall, thin woman with long wavy black hair and a short piggish nose stepped through the doors.

"I'll be calling the groups out now," she said. "Please go to the room in which you are assigned where you will speak with your group counselor. I understand this is a difficult process for many of you, and we will try to accommodate your needs the best we can, but for now please report to the room you have been assigned."

* * *

_10:13 p.m._

Jasper was not sure what to make of the hodgepodge group of people he had been sorted into for his so-called therapy. There were five groups of seniors, six groups of sophomores, and seven groups of freshmen who had been divided up to deal with the aftermath, but only enough juniors had shown up to create one group. The therapists seemed pretty surprised by this, especially since the bulk of the victims had been juniors or seniors. It was an odd-cross section of the junior class to be sure.

First there was himself, the only official Goth kid at Forks. Next was Emmett, the big, beefy football player who was actually just one of the guys. Next to him was Rose, the mislabeled school slut who was probably the most virginal girl in the junior class. Beside her was Alice Brandon the art freak and Bella Swan the shy police chief's daughter, beside nerdy Edward Cullen who seemed to compulsively push his glasses up the bridge of his nose every five seconds. Beside him was Alec Stanwick, a total burnout and the twin brother of Jane, who had virtually ignored her brother and denied their relation to keep her popularity.

On Alec's other side was the angelic pastor's daughter Angela Cheney who was glancing surreptitiously at Ben Cheney, one of those guys who was just another face in the school crowd. Ben was shifting nervously as he was sitting next to Logan Wilson, Dean Lucas, and Doug Meckler, three all-brawn and no-brains football players who were yucking it up despite the seriousness of the situation. Finally on Jasper's other side was the tittering Whitney Stanley, the first cousin of Jessica who was still pent up in multiple bandages at some Seattle Hospital, apparently in the same room as her BFF and fellow victim Lauren Mallory. Mike Newton was there too, and Jasper sarcastically wondered if Jessica and Lauren were still flirting with Mike despite his reportedly comatose state.

A tall, brown-headed woman with a waif-like figure entered the room with a folder. Jasper thought she must be college-aged or so, but she could be older. She took a seat in the only vacant chair left between Jasper and Whitney Stanley and offered Jasper a comforting smile. She had that look in her eyes all adults seemed to when they encountered Jasper for the first time, the whole: ah, so you think you're a tough guy look. Jasper crossed his arms over his chest and looked away.

"Hello, everyone," the woman smiled comfortingly. "My name is Tia Martin and I'm a master's student at the University of Washington. I've been a counselor for several years now and I'm hoping to get to know you all and help everyone deal with our current situation." She looked around, as if waiting for a response from the group, and then moved forward with her little speech when no one responded. "Now, how about we break the ice? I want everyone to introduce themselves and tell everyone one thing they might not know about you."

"We've been in school since kindergarten," Doug snorted. "I think we know each other." Tia the Counselor opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by Alice.

"What's my name?" Alice asked him.

"Huh?" Doug asked.

"We've been in the same grade since kindergarten, Doug," Alice smirked. "What's my name?"

"Uh… art… girl?" Doug blushed. Jasper felt the anger in him raise a little bit. He knew Doug was going to say "art freak" or worse in reference to Alice.

"I thought you knew everyone's name," Alice said. Doug looked dumfounded at first and then a little angry that he was proven wrong.

"Like I said," Tia said. "How about I start, okay?" The group of teenagers looked at her as if she had just announced she was going to start magically producing money from out of a hat. "Okay… I'm Tia. I grew up outside of Tacoma, and I nearly qualified for the 2004 Olympic rowing team from the U.S." She smiled at Jasper. "Would you like to go next?"

No, I would not like to go next, Jasper thought, but he was sure Tia would push him to go regardless as he was the obvious odd one out of the group.

"My name is Jasper Whitlock…" he grimaced. "Uh… my dad is Major Randall Whitlock who is based out of Lewis-McCord. He previously served in Desert Storm and is presently serving in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan." Jasper tried not to let his satisfied smirk show when Logan, Dean, Doug and Whitney's jaws all dropped to find out his father was a military hero. Ben Cheney seemed a little surprised too.

"Alright," Tia nodded, prompting Emmett with a nod.

"Sup? I'm Emmett McCarty," Emmett said, waving at everyone. "This one time, I rode a bear through the forest like a horse."

"Emmett, it has to be something about yourself that's true," Tia prompted.

"What seems fake about riding a bear?" Emmett grinned. "Nah, I didn't ride the bear. But I have a German Shepard named Bear."

"Alright," Tia said, prompting Rosalie, who was next in line. Rose didn't look very happy to be the center of attention, especially with the way Logan, Dean and Doug were leering at her.

"I'm Rosalie Hale," she said, putting more confidence into her voice than she necessarily felt, "and I volunteer at the hospital."

"Hi!" Alice tittered. "I'm Alice Brandon and right now I'm going through a Van Gogh phase with my art." Tia looked pretty confused by Alice's fun fact, but allowed the group to proceed onward.

"I'm Bella," Bella said nervously. "Bella Swan. And my dad is chief of police?"

"Oh, come on Bella," Emmett chided. "Something we _don't_ know. Come on. You got a deep dark secret or something?" Bella smiled gently.

"Um… my mom and I stole pieces from the Petrified Forest when we went there on vacation when I was seven," Bella shrugged.

"Dude, that's federal," Emmett grinned. "High five!" Bella embarrassedly touched her hand to his, and was glad when Tia moved on to Edward.

"I'm Edward Cullen," he said rapidly. "I play the piano." He looked at Alec, who barely seemed to know where he was.

"I'm Alec," he began.

"Last name," Tia prompted.

"Stanwick," Alec continued, tossing his bangs out of his face, "And…uh… I surf sometimes."

"I'm Angela Webber," she said, "and I volunteer at summer camp for deaf students."

"Ben Cheney," he said. "I like to read graphic novels…"

"You mean comic books?" Doug chuckled.

"This is a no judgment zone," Tia said to him, annoyed. "How about you tell us about yourself?"

"Yeah, I'm Doug. Doug Meckler. The Meckster," Doug grinned. "And the ladies love me."

"I highly doubt that," Rose huffed.

"Please try to cooperate with this procedure, Mr. Meckler, or we will have to ask you to leave," Tia said. "Now, tell us a _fact_ about yourself." Doug grimaced, obviously not used to being put in his place.

"Uh… I like going hunting?" Doug shrugged.

"Logan Wilson," Logan said, "And my Dad's a distant cousin of one of the Beach Boys."

"Which one," Alice asked curiously.

"The one named Wilson," Logan shrugged.

"There are three of them named Wilson," Alice said. "And the other one is a cousin of the three brothers Wilson."

"Cool," Logan nodded.

"Dean Lucas," Dean grinned. "I'm named after my grandfather."

"Whitney Stanley," she said gently. "I run track."

"Alright," Tia grinned happily. "Now that we know a little bit more about each other we can get down to business. I know the past week has been very tough for all of you, but especially for those of you that witnessed this tragedy. I would like to go around the room and for everyone to just describe in one word how this experience has impacted them."

"Is this really necessary?" Jasper asked, annoyed.

"Pardon," Tia said, caught off guard.

"Is this really supposed to help? Some word association game?" Jasper gritted out.

"We're just getting started here…" Tia began. "You can't expect an overnight fix for this…"

"Why do you even care?" Doug asked Jasper with a snarl. "Are you happy that your buddy in the "Trench coat" Mafia fucked everything up?"

"Language like that will not be tolerated…" Tia started.

"You don't know anything about Jimmy," Jasper shot back. "You probably didn't even know his name until last week."

"Yeah, well maybe if he'd finished the job with you I wouldn't have had to learn your name either," Doug snorted.

"Fuck you," Jasper growled before shooting up out of his chair and rushing out of the room. For a moment, the room stayed in stunned silence.

"Mr. Meckler," Tia said, regaining her composure, "I am going to have to ask you to leave this group and not come back. Your behavior will not be tolerated and I will be letting your parents and the school officials know about this incident."

"What?" Doug gaped.

"In light of… recent events… the Clallam County School Board is taking a much tougher, zero tolerance stance on bullying," Tia explained. "As these therapy sessions are sponsored by the school board, we are required to tell them about any incident that could be considered bullying. I'm sorry, Mr. Meckler, but your behavior is unacceptable. This is supposed to be about healing, and though I know there are a lot of emotions in the way right now, but your reaction was uncalled for."

"Who the fuck does Whitlock think he is anyway?" Doug said furiously.

"He tried to stop him, you know," Emmett cut in coldly to his fellow teammate. Doug's face turned ashen. "His own best friend: He tackled him in the hallway. He tried to wrestle the gun from him. He begged him to stop. To stop shooting: To stop killing people. And that's why Jimmy shot him. I know we're on the team together Doug, and no offense, but you're a complete douchebag."

"How the hell do you know all that shit about Hunter?" Doug snapped. "Who was that sicko anyway?"

"He was Jasper's friend," Emmett shrugged. "That's enough for me." With that, Emmett got up and exited the room himself.

* * *

_10:38 p.m._

Emmett McCarty finally found Jasper in the men's room of the main floor of the community center. It looked like Jasper had attempted to cool off by splashing some cold water on his face and then had turned and sunk down against the wall in the very back of the bathroom. Emmett didn't think the bathroom was sanitary enough that he would feel comfortable sitting on the floor, though Jasper seemed to have much more pressing things on his mind. Ignoring the wads of toilet paper, Emmett walked to where Jasper was sitting and plopped down beside him.

"I guess I suck at therapy," Jasper said finally.

"Nah, Doug got kicked out. Not you," Emmett shrugged.

"Seriously," Jasper asked incredulously.

"Yeah, apparently there are new guidelines for bullying and since this is a school-sponsored thing, Doug's getting written up by the counselor," Emmett nodded. "Tia also asked him not to come back."

"I don't think she knows what she's doing," Jasper huffed.

"She wants to help," Emmett replied. He paused for a beat and then continued when Jasper said nothing. "Look, I know this is hard for you man. I mean, I get being a dude and not wanting to divulge your feelings and emotions and shit to everyone. I also get not wanting to hear bad things about your buds. I mean, Doug's an asshole. That's why he's so good on offense." Jasper snorted at that. "But you shouldn't listen to guys like him. I don't. Half the shit that comes out of his mouth is pure ego and the other half is stuff he says to get people to like him."

"You know… sometimes I wish…" Jasper sighed. "The other day I was thinking maybe it would have been easier if I'd just bled out in the hallway or something. I wouldn't have to live with all this guilt and wondering why I couldn't stop Jimmy and… just all the bullshit, you know?"

"Don't say shit like that man," Emmett shook his head. "If that had happened, we wouldn't have become buds. And I don't think Alice Brandon would have ever recovered since you're her one true love and all."

"Shit," Jasper said, realizing Alice had witnessed his whole tirade.

"Hey, she gets it man," Emmett shrugged. "She seemed pretty pissed at Doug. I think everyone did. I don't think Doug realized he's not the voice of popular opinion anymore."

"I don't want to go back down there," Jasper admitted. "I mean, I promised my dad I'd give it a chance… but…"

"I'll make you a deal," Emmett said. "You go back down there with me and I'll teach you all of my sick bear wrestling moves." Jasper laughed.

"Okay," Jasper said. "You win."

* * *

**End Note:**

_Between 8 percent and 15 percent of students who experience a school shooting develop post-traumatic stress disorder as a result. Many students who witnessed the Columbine Massacre said they had flashbacks whenever they would hear the sound of a helicopter due to the high number of ATF helicopters patrolling the area around the school during the shooting._

_The American School Counselor Association said viewing television programs and discussing the incident in graphic fashion can sometimes re-traumatize victims and worsen PTSD. Nightmares, headaches, anger, fear, insecurity and declining grades have all been exhibited in schools shooting witnesses_

_The Trenchcoat Mafia was a club at Columbine High School of teens who felt mistreated and often wore black trench coats as well as played violent video games together. Shooters Klebold and Harris were on the fringes of the school's "Trenchcoat Mafia," but were not featured in the club's yearbook photo. However, the two were connected with the group for wearing trench coats during the shooting. Despite their actions, the majority of the kids who were actually in the club said they adopted the style to stay warm in the cold Colorado winters and wished no violence against fellow students. Since Columbine, however, rumors have taken over and many imitators have taken on the black trench coat as homage to the Columbine shooters. _


	12. Chapter 12

__**Thanks to dowlingnana**

* * *

_Violence isn't always evil. What's evil in the infatuation with violence? _

_- Jim Morrison, musician_

* * *

_Monday, April 21, 2008_

_10:45 a.m. – Forks Community Center_

Alice was glad to see that Emmett had convinced Jasper to return to the therapy session. In fact, she was even happier to see Jasper back in the circle than she had been to see Tia escort Doug out of the room and march him up to his parents to explain his behavior. Alice hoped the Meckler's would discipline their son for his behavior, but since he had been getting away with it for so long she doubted Doug's parents would see anything wrong with their son's outburst.

"You okay?" Alice mouthed to Jasper as he sat down. He seemed a little surprised that she cared, but nodded as a response. Alice shot him a big grin and he had to look away so she wouldn't see him blushing.

"Glad to have you back, Jasper," Tia said to him comfortingly.

"Yeah, sorry," he said quietly.

"How about we resume our exercise?" Tia asked, getting up and going over to the whiteboard and picking up a stray blue marker. "Whitney, how would you describe your experience in one word?"

"Uh… confused?" Whitney shrugged. Tia nodded and wrote the word on the board.

"Dean?" Tia asked.

"I'd say confused too," Dean shrugged.

"Anything else," Tia prompted, tapping her marker against the whiteboard.

"No," Dean shook his head.

"Logan?" Tia asked.

"Angry, I guess," Logan said. Tia nodded and wrote the word on the board before turning to Ben Cheney.

"Frustrated," Ben said. Tia nodded, writing the word and then moved to Angela.

"Scared," Angela replied softly.

"Uh… all of those things," Alec shrugged. He didn't seem like he had been paying attention.

"Numb," Edward admitted.

"Nervous," Bella said.

"Hurting," Alice said.

"Hopeless," Rose sighed.

"Pissed off," Emmett said. "I mean, I know that's two words…"

"So angry" Tia prompted?

"No. I mean pissed off," Emmett shrugged. Tia sighed and wrote it on the board.

"Jasper" Tia asked. He had thought hard while everyone else was speaking, trying to find just one word that described how he felt. It was hard to put a name on the emotions inside of him.

"Alone," he said finally.

"Alright," Tia nodded. "I'm going to write a few more words on the board, too." Half-interestedly Jasper watched as she scrawled things like "helpless" "fear," "insecure" and a myriad of others.

"I'm sure at one point or another during this tragedy you have all experienced a variety of these emotions," Tia said. "I want you all to know that is okay and perfectly normal. I am also sure you have a lot of questions about this, why it happened, and how to deal with it. Unfortunately, some of those questions about why this happened will never be fully answered, but we have to do our best to understand, process and then learn the appropriate tools to move on with our lives. I can't promise things will ever be 'normal' or the way they were before, but our main goal is to find a new 'normal,' to figure out how to live with the things you have experienced."

Tia walked over to the table on the other side of the room and picked up a stack of composition notebooks. A few of the guys in the room groaned though Bella Swan seemed oddly interested in what the notebooks were for. Tia began handing out the notebooks to everyone in the circle.

"Writing can be great therapy," Tia said. "I want you each to put your name on your notebook and I'm going to give you a writing assignment for when you go home. We are going to meet again this time on Thursday. I want you all to write about the emotions you've felt during this past week and why you think you're feeling them. If you don't know why you're feeling a particular emotion, you can just write 'I don't know.' I think this exercise will help you all sort out how you are feeling a little better. If there is anything else you would like to write about your experience, you can feel free to do that is well."

"Will we have to share what we write with everyone?" Angela asked worriedly.

"Not unless you want to," Tia said, "though you might find sharing how you feel is helpful. Alright, well, I hope to see you all back here this time Thursday." The group rose to exit out of the classroom and Jasper had almost left when Tia called his name.

"Could I talk to you a minute," Tia asked. Jasper grimaced not knowing what to expect.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"I know this has been especially hard for you," Tia said. "I am sorry for the way Doug behaved, and I know what you said was a reaction to him…"

"I'm… not in trouble or something, am I?" Jasper asked concerned.

"No," Tia reassured him, "but I think you knew Mr. Hunter much better than anyone else, and I know that is going to be tough for you to deal with. I seriously think you should consider seeking out one of our professionals to help you cope with this situation. I also think that some of your fellow classmates – like Doug for example – are looking for someone to blame and might rest that blame on your shoulders because you were the only person close with Jimmy who survived. I wish I could tell you this won't be a difficult road, but I can't. I just want to make sure you have a healthy support network."

"Have my parents been talking to you?" Jasper grimaced.

"No," Tia laughed, "but maybe it would help if you talked to them. In fact, it might help them more than you."

"I'll think about it," Jasper shrugged.

"If you need anything, let me know," Tia nodded. Jasper turned and walked out the door to find Emmett waiting for him.

"She give you detention or something?" Emmett asked worriedly.

"I don't think state-appointed counselors can do that," Jasper said. "She just wanted to make sure… I guess that I won't go postal over what Doug said or anything."

"He's a turd nugget," Emmett shrugged. "Always has been. Guy shit in Jessica Stanley's pool during her birthday party in eighth grade and tried to blame it on her dog."

"Gross," Jasper grimaced.

"So? Whatcha doing after this," Emmett asked.

"Dunno," Jasper said "Waiting for my folks to get out. Where did everyone else go?"

"Rose said she was going to visit Mrs. Cope and Angela is going with her and Ben is going too because I think he likes Angela," Emmett said. "Alice had to go find her sister and Edward and Bella are waiting on their folks upstairs."

"Okay," Jasper sighed. "Good. I'm just not sure I want to face anyone after… today…"

"I get it," Emmett said. "So… see you Thursday, I guess?"

"Yeah," Jasper nodded before going to find his parents. He really just wanted to get out of there.

* * *

_12:30 p.m. – Forks Community Hospital_

"She looks…"

Angela Webber had always been taught not to say anything if she couldn't say something nice. She also, as a minister's daughter, had her fair share of practice when it came to helping comfort people at their worst. However, looking at Mrs. Cope in the hospital bed left her without anything to say. To be perfectly honest, Angela would have thought Mrs. Cope was dead if it weren't for all of the beeping monitors set up around her. It was hard to reconcile the sweet, smiling secretary with the candy dish and the cheerful woman who sang alto in the church's choir with the lifeless body in the hospital bed before her.

"What are the doctor's saying" Ben Cheney asked Rose, helping recover the awkward silence after Angela trailed off.

"Little change," Rose admitted. "They are trying to remain positive that she comes through, but as every day goes on… And she has no family, so it's pretty much me and the other hospital staff keeping her company."

"No family?" Angela asked surprised.

"Her ex-husband ran off with some skank, and they can't find him," Rose said. "She has no living relatives in the area and last I heard Dr. Cullen was trying to track down the phone number of one of her second cousin's kids or something. But he doesn't know if it's the same person or if they'll even respond… I hate that she's all alone."

"So… what do you do when you come visit her?" Angela asked curiously.

"Read to her mostly," Rose said. "If I finish my book I'll talk to her about my day and about what's going on in the world… nice stuff… Like I'll tell her if there are new babies in the nursery or funny things I read in the newspaper. I try to keep it positive. Dr. Cullen said staying positive is encouraging and will help her recover."

"Has anyone else come to visit her?" Angela asked worriedly.

"Just me and the hospital staff," Rose shrugged. Angela bit her lip. She didn't know why her father hadn't come to see Mrs. Cope.

"Has your dad been busy with all of the… you know..." Ben asked Angela curiously.

"Services, yeah," Angela sighed. "I've never seen the church so packed as it was last Sunday. It's like people woke up and felt the need to come."

"Or they're feeling guilty and are looking for something to cling to," Rose snorted. Angela looked at Rose for a moment. She realized Rose and her family were not frequent visitors to the pews at Forks Lutheran. In fact, Angela didn't know if she had ever seen Rose in church. Of course, she doubted it was the appropriate time to try to convert Rose.

"Mrs. Cope sings in our choir," Angela said. "I'm sure a lot of people at church miss her."

"None of them have come to visit her," Rose pointed out. "Maybe you should tell your dad to get his flock to practice what they preach."

Angela bit her lip. Her parents had talked about how much violence had crept into the school system since compulsory school prayer and morning Bible readings had been removed from the school curriculum to make things "politically correct." It struck Angela as odd that no one from their tight-knit, conservative church had even thought to come and visit Mrs. Cope. They had gone to all of the funerals and made a big deal out of mourning kids like Royce and Vicky. However, there had been a notable absence at Dr. Banner's funeral. She knew her father and Dr. Banner had come to heads when Dr. Banner refused to let Angela opt out of the evolutionary theory portion of the class on religious grounds. Angela didn't want to take a zero because her father had religious objections, and though she would never tell her parents, Darwin's ideas had piqued an interest in science Angela had never felt before.

"So... do you like working here?" Ben asked Rose, hoping to diffuse the situation.

"Most of the time," Rose said. "I want to go into something with medicine, so this is great practice. Not to mention most of the patients are really nice people."

"Well, I've got to head out," Ben said. "I have to pick my little brother up from soccer practice. Could I… give you a ride home?"

"Sure," Angela grinned.

Rose tried not to judge as the two of them walked off, but she couldn't help but feel the rose-tinted glasses Angela viewed the world through had seriously inhibited her from seeing the sometimes awful truth about the world. Walking forward, Rose gave Mrs. Cope's hand a squeeze and then settled down into the chair beside the bed to read.

* * *

_1:06 p.m. – Swan Residence_

Charlie Swan had taken his wife and daughter home after the counseling session and then indulged himself in a lunch at home before he started to get ready to head back into the office. It was nice to spend some time with his girls. They were welcome relief from the piles of paperwork, straining investigation, and horde of other law enforcement that were crowding his precinct. Renee hadn't spoken much during the adult counseling session. Beyond discussing their feelings and fears about their kids, not much had been talked about anyway. However, Charlie was a little comforted that he wasn't the only father who had checked on his child at night or had nightmares about when the school would be reopened. Best of all, several of the parents had let him know they felt he had done a good job handling the situation, which Charlie had begun to doubt from the beginning and struggled with even more after being verbally attacked by Eleanor Katz.

"Will you be home for supper?" Renee asked curiously as Charlie hitched on his belt with all of his equipment.

"I probably won't be back until before seven," he admitted.

"Bella and I can wait for you," Renee said. "I was thinking of making chili. I know it's a little warm out but…"

"I love your chili," Charlie reminded her. Renee smiled in spite of herself.

"Alright," she nodded.

"You and Bells take care while I'm gone," Charlie instructed.

"We always do," Renee smiled. Charlie was about to lean over and kiss his wife goodbye when his phone rang. He picked up it and Renee listened curiously.

"Chief here," he said. "Oh? What happened?... Did they say when?... Alright… yeah… I'm sure they'll be all over it… Be in the office in five."

"What happened?" Renee asked worriedly as Charlie's face sagged.

"The Newton kid," Charlie sighed: "Developed a brain clot in his brain this morning. It burst. Parents had him on life support but… the doctor's pronounced him dead about thirty minutes ago."

"Oh, poor Cindy," Renee sighed.

"They've still got two other kids in the hospital there in Seattle," Charlie said. "One hasn't woken up yet and the other seems pretty brain damaged… I just…"

"You did the best you could, Charlie," Renee reassured him. "You did all you could do."

"Sometimes I think all I can do isn't enough," Charlie sighed. Renee bit her lip.

"We aren't talking about the Newton boy any more, are we?" Renee sighed.

"I don't know," Charlie admitted.

"What I did… it isn't your fault, Charlie," Renee shook her head.

"You said you didn't feel wanted," Charlie reminded her, "that you didn't feel important."

"I was feeling selfish," Renee sighed. "You work hard for this entire town. You put your life on the line, and until now… until now I don't think I realized how stressful your job really is. Here I was thinking you were just piddling around on your desk late at night instead of coming home… that maybe you didn't want to come home to me. I was so wrong, Charlie. We've been married twenty years and during that time all you've done is work your ass off to provide for Bella and me, and in one moment of self-absorption I lost sight of that and nearly destroyed everything we've built."

"I wish you had come to me first," Charlie admitted.

"I was afraid," Renee shrugged. "I thought you would think I was silly… or be mad at me or… I don't know… I didn't know if you would understand…"

"We've been married twenty years, Renee," Charlie shook his head. "By now you should know you can trust me with anything."

"You're right," Renee admitted. "To tell the truth, the only reason I was attracted to Phil is because he sort of reminded me of you when you were younger… He was sweet and made me feel beautiful about myself… First he would just flirt with me and then… I don't know. It just felt nice to feel like someone thought I was attractive; someone was interested in me… It was just sex to him, Charlie, and the fact that he had no qualms going after a woman he knew was married… well, that should have told me what kind of guy he was… I was a challenge to him, Charlie… a notch. And afterwards… afterwards I felt even less special and important than before." Renee was sobbing by now. "And by then… by then I realized how special I really was to you and I felt horrible… Seriously, I must be the worst wife on the planet…"

"Nah," Charlie shook his head. "I'm sure Eleanor Katz probably held that title before she was divorced."

"I'm going to fix this, Charlie," Renee assured him. "I'm going to build us back. I don't know how yet but today… seeing all those people tell you how much your work meant to them… I should be your number one fan, but I've been too focused on myself… too worried about getting old and fat…"

"Renee, you're thinner now than when we got married," Charlie pointed out. "Besides, that doesn't matter. All I want, Renee… all I've ever wanted from you… is just to come home and see you there… to sleep beside you each night and wake up next to you every morning. You'll always be my girl."

"I know," Renee sniffled. "But I'm going to make this up to you. I want our marriage to work. I promised you until we were old and gray and I intend to keep it."

"Well, you can start by making my favorite chili," Charlie grinned. His kissed his wife firmly and promised himself to start reminding Renee how special she was. Though Renee said it was her fault, Charlie had to admit he been borderline neglectful with their marriage, taking for granted a lot of what his wife did for him and how hard she had worked to give him a relaxing home life away from the stress at work. "I'll see you tonight. Love you."

"I love you too," Renee nodded. She watched in silence as her husband walked out of the house, got into his vehicle and then drove off before slowly turning to get things together for supper.

In the past week, Renee had lost her sense of security about the town of Forks and her daughter's school. She had lost the belief that her family was safe. The one thing she wasn't going to lose was her marriage.

* * *

**End Note:**

_Mike Newton's death is caused by a cerebral embolism, also known as an embolic stroke, which occurs when a blood clot forms in the brain due to bleeding between the skull and the brain. The clot puts pressure on brain tissue and it can sometimes be difficult to find these clots in time to treat them depending on the size and location of the clot._

_Though a lot of people feel the lack of religion in school is the reason for the increase in school shootings, several studies have shown school shootings typically occur in more conservative areas, often with many churches. Many times, school shooters are from religious homes or backgrounds. Both of the Columbine shooters came from conservative Christian homes. Mitchell Johnson, the Westside Middle School shooter, was very active in his church's youth group and choir._

_The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1962 that school prayer, mandated Bible reading and other school funded religious activities were in violation of the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, which states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."_

_There were 68 recorded school shootings or bombings in America between 1776 and 1962, or roughly one shooting every two years. School attendance was made compulsory in all U.S. states in 1918 and the number of school shootings began to rise yearly starting in the 1920s. _


	13. Chapter 13

**Thanks to dowlingnana**

* * *

_He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself; for every man has need to be forgiven._

_- Thomas Fuller, English churchman and historian_

* * *

_Monday, April 21, 2008_

_2:18 p.m. – Cullen Residence_

Edward's arm cast made playing the piano much more difficult than it should have been. After teaming up with his father, Edward had finally managed to convince his mother that leaving his room wouldn't be detrimental to his recovery. He promised he wouldn't be doing any cartwheels on his injured leg – not that he had been able to do them before – and agreed to stay well rested and eat his vegetables. Edward doubted an extra helping of peas and carrots was going to heal his body quicker than a tub of ice cream, but he let his mother think what she wanted. And, to Edward's smug but unvoiced satisfaction, his mother seemed delighted to hear him tinkering around with the baby grand again.

The staccato notes of "Chopsticks" echoed through the large Cullen house at first as Edward got used to playing and tried to ignore the pain surging in his arm. It felt more like he had overextended his muscles while working out or the pain after he received a flu shot than it did a gunshot wound, but it was still painful enough that Edward had to grit his teeth as he played. He managed to get through Beethoven's "Ode to Joy," but only could get through half of "Fur Elise" before the pain in his arm became too much and he decided to get up from the piano bench. He turned around and found his mother leaning in the doorway, her eyes full of concerned.

"Everything alright?" Esme asked worriedly.

"Yeah," Edward sighed. "My arm just hurts a little."

"You should rest, Edward," Esme encouraged him.

"I don't want to," Edward grimaced. "I'd like to keep practicing, but it just… I don't know… when do you think they can take the stitches out?"

"Your father said another week or two," Esme said. "But Edward, you really should…"

"Rest. Yeah. Got it," Edward grimaced. "I'll be in my room."

Esme sighed as her son schlepped off to his room. It pained her to see Edward so frustrated. Usually, playing the piano cleared his thoughts and put him into a very happy, serene mood, but now he was even more stressed and frustrated than before. The doorbell rang, jarring Esme out of her thoughts. She smoothed down her skirt, gave her hair a light pat and went to see who was waiting out on the front porch. She was a little surprised but more delighted to see Bella Swan standing awkwardly before her.

* * *

_2:23 p.m._

Bella Swan didn't know what had compelled her to leave the house and seek out Edward Cullen. She hadn't been very keen on helping her mother chop up the vegetables and braise the beef for the chili Renee was making for supper that night. Chili was her father's favorite, and Bella smiled a little to see her mother going out of the way to make something to cheer up her father. Renee was humming happily as she stirred. Bella had noticed her mother was making a lot more chili than normal and she wondered if they were expecting guests or Renee was just making extra so Charlie would have some leftovers for his lunches in the next few days.

Bored and wanting to get out of the house, Bella asked her mother if it would be okay if she went to a friend's house for the afternoon. Renee probably assumed Bella meant Alice and said it was okay, as long as Bella was back by around six so they could have a family supper together. Bella wasn't sure if she had even intended to seek out Edward Cullen when she left the house, but here she was standing in front of the door with a smiling Esme Cullen looking her over. Bella suddenly felt very sheepish but knew it was too late to back out of her impulsive decision to see Edward.

"Hi… is Edward home?" Bella asked nervously.

"Of course dear," Esme smiled. "He's in his room right now. I'll go fetch him for you."

"Alright," Bella nodded as Esme gleefully ushered her into the house. Esme's megawatt grin was bigger than Bella had ever seen it, almost as if Bella was the first person who had ever come over to see Edward before.

Esme instructed Bella to take a seat in the chic but somewhat overstuffed living room before skipping off to her son's room. After rushing up the stairs, she rapped two times on her son's door before pushing it open. Edward was leaning back against his pillows, a grumpy expression on his face, and blasting music through his headphones. It was some angsty, pounding rock music and the exact opposite of the calming, classical notes he had been pounding out moments before. Edward caught site of his mother in the doorway and paused a moment before sliding his headphones off to see what she wanted.

"Bella Swan is here to see you," Esme winked at her son. Edward's mouth fell open slightly and he closed and opened it like a fish a time or two, not exactly sure how to react to the news that Bella Swan was downstairs waiting for _him _of all people.

"Okay… I'll…" Edward said, getting up off his bed and then looking around nervously.

"I'll tell her you'll be down in a jiff," Esme smiled before turning and airily floating down the stairs.

Edward quickly rushed over to the mirror, pushed up his glasses, pointlessly tried to smooth down his matted and disarrayed hair and then scrunched his nose at his overall appearance. With a sigh, he gave up the hope of ever miraculously waking up to look like a Calvin Klein model and then thumped his way down the stairs to find Bella sitting on the couch, nervously twirling a lock of her hair between her fingers. Edward opened his mouth but found his self at a loss for words, afraid that anything he could force out of his mouth would just sound awkward and nerdy.

"Hi," Bella smiled warmly.

"Hi," Edward said. "I wasn't expecting you… not to say that I'm not glad that you're here but…"

"Yeah… I said I'd come visit you after you got out of the hospital," Bella nodded. "And I kind of needed to get out of the house… but that's not the only reason why I came to see you…"

"Is… everything okay?" Edward asked worriedly, taking a seat beside her on the couch.

"My dad got a call after we got home," Bella sighed. "I overheard him in the kitchen. Talking with my mom… He got a phone call. Mike Newton died in the hospital earlier today. There was a blood clot in his brain and I…"

"Jesus," Edward sighed.

"I mean, Mike wasn't exactly the nicest guy," Bella sighed, "but I can't imagine suffering like that… I don't even know if he was conscious or not or what he went through… but that's not what I'm really upset about."

"Not about Mike?" Edward asked curiously.

"No," Bella grimaced. "I was going to go back to my room, but my parents kept talking and… and I think my mom had an affair…She was talking to my dad… about Coach Dwyer and… I don't know… she made it sound like it was over and Dad acted… like it wasn't new information; like he already knew about it. Why didn't I know about it?"

"I'm guessing they wouldn't want to tell you," Edward shrugged. "I mean, they probably wanted to protect you and I guess they're working it out, right?"

"It sounded that way," Bella sighed, "but I still can't believe my mom would do that. I mean, yeah, Dad works long hours and he hasn't been able to take her out for date nights as much as he did before he became chief of police… but still… I can't believe she would run off and do something like that, even if she was feeling lonely or upset."

"Have you talked to her about it?" Edward asked curiously.

"I couldn't," Bella snorted. "The irony of it all is she'd probably get pissed with me for eavesdropping on a private conversation between her and my dad."

"I wish… I wish I could say something helpful," Edward admitted. "If my parents… I mean, they're goopy and sappy with how much they love each other to the point it gets on my nerves, but I still don't know how I'd handle that if something like that happened between them…"

"Yeah," Bella sighed. "I just… it's all too much. Between this and the school and… I'm just overwhelmed."

"You wanna… I don't know… do something?" Edward asked curiously. "I guess you could use the distraction…"

"Tell me about it," Bella laughed.

"Come on. I'll play something for you," Edward said, motioning Bella over to the piano. He had left his sheet music on it from earlier.

"Wow," Bella said, sitting down on the piano bench beside him. "It's beautiful."

"Yeah," Edward said. "When I was younger, I had this really old one and I wanted a big one like this, so my parents told me if I practiced an hour every day for a year they'd get me a bigger piano. I was one very determined ten-year-old." Bella laughed as Edward stretched out his fingers and began plucking the first few notes. It surprised him that his arm didn't seem to hurt as much as Bella's intense gaze followed his fingers as they glossed over the keys. The expression of wonderment on her face made it ache dull.

Esme Cullen nearly dropped the tray of chocolate chip cookies and milk she was bringing to the kids when she heard the first few notes of Edward's piano coming through the hall. Putting the snack on the counter in the kitchen, she gracefully headed into the hallway and surreptitiously watched the two kids sitting on the piano together. They were both laughing, and, for the first time since the week before, her son didn't have that haunted look in his eyes. She smiled and listened for a moment before retreating back into the kitchen. She couldn't wait to tell Carlisle when he got home.

* * *

_3:30 p.m. – Forks Town Council Hall_

Charlie had to admit the school board thought they were clever when they held their meeting concerning the Forks High School shooting at 3:30 p.m. on a Monday. The group probably thought everyone would be too busy at home or at work to attend. They had underestimated the ire and dedication of the people of Forks. The meeting had to be moved into a larger courtroom and the school board members - along with Principal Harold Greene – were all looking a little antsy at the standing-room only crowd. The school board president – a man from Port Angeles named Willard Greevey – called the meeting to order.

"Now, the primary purpose of this meeting is to set a date for the students at Forks High School to return to their classrooms," Greevey said. "In executive session, before this meeting, we discussed the issue. Do we have any resolutions coming out of that session?"

"Yes," a thin, nasally-voiced female member of the board nodded. "Seeing as the school is still a crime scene and we do not feel it is appropriate so close to the time of the event to allow students back into the building, I move that we agree to the proposal presented to us by the Quileute Tribe and have our students finish out the final two weeks of class at the Tribal School. School will resume next Monday at the Tribal School."

"Do we have a second from this motion?" Greevey asked. There was a second and a unanimous vote, after which Eleanor Katz shot up from her seat.

"Aren't you going to ask the parents what _we _think?" Eleanor huffed.

"Ma'am, there will be a public comment session at the end of the…" Greevey began.

"So you're just going to make decisions about _our _children and then ignore what we have to say at the very end?" Eleanor hissed.

"Ma'am, if you do not return to your seat I am going to have to ask you to leave," Greevey glared at her.

"She's right!" Mrs. Stanley echoed. "How come you don't want to listen to us?"

"Yeah!" another parent chimed in from the back. "We want answers!" Greevey banged his gavel several times.

"As we never have a crowd this large at our _normal _meetings," Greevey said, "we assume most of you are not familiar with the _proper method _in which these meetings are conducted. This is how _every _school board meeting is conducted under Washington state law. Now, I will have to ask the crowd to keep their silence or remove themselves from this meeting. Any further outbursts will not be tolerated." Greevey looked at Charlie and the sheriff's department deputies, who seemed more than eager to drag out a few of the louder parents by their hair.

"Now, as to the inquest into Principal Harold Greene following this incident," Greevey said. "Is there a motion on the table?"

"Yes," a paunchy, bald man on the fair side of the table nodded. "I would move that Mr. Greene be suspended with pay until the investigation concludes." Uproar came from the crowd, leading Greevey to bang his gavel furiously. When the crowd calmed down, the measure was seconded, followed by uproar again, and was passed by a 3-2 margin. Charlie couldn't help but notice the two school board members who dissented in Greene being suspended with pay were the two up for re-election in the fall.

"Now, we will open the floor to comments," Greevey said. Eleanor Katz, naturally, was the first on the list.

"I want to know why more wasn't done to prevent this!" Eleanor demanded. "Why aren't there metal detectors in our schools? Why didn't administrators take more action? They obviously knew this boy was disturbed! How could you let this incident fall through the cracks until it was too late?"

"Mrs. Katz, there isn't money in our budget for things like metal detectors," Greevey said, addressing her comments. "We _could _have installed better equipment if the good people of Clallam County hadn't voted down the two percent increase to the school tax two years ago, but it simply isn't in the budget. We have to comply with so many state and federal mandates that are no longer financed now and state budget cuts have not been kind to us. As for your other questions, I cannot answer them while there is an ongoing internal investigation into Mr. Greene. It is an employee matter and therefore protected under law."

The next twenty-five or so questions progressed much the same, parents asking the school board why they didn't have the power to predict the incident and the school board either deferring, ignoring or citing budget issues as the reason why there weren't more school resource officers or metal detectors or helicopters patrolling the school grounds. Charlie was certain the school board was hoping to distract the crowd from themselves when they asked him to address the crowd about some particular issue. It had been another question about the truth of the documents leaked to the media and whether or not Harold Greene had ignored the certifiable threat that was Jimmy Hunter.

Charlie sighed and turned to leave the room. He couldn't handle much more of this talk. There would be no charges pressed against Harold Greene or any of the other administrators. Despite the evidence in Hunter's student file, the prosecuting attorney in Port Angeles didn't think charging anyone would help matters. The feds were still working on their final report and early on had mentioned something about charging Greene with gross negligence or at least lying to police during the course of an investigation, but even their talk of criminal charges had drifted off. With the tone of the community the way it was, Charlie was satisfied that Greene would most likely be removed from his position. Of course, it annoyed him that Greene would most likely be removed because the school board officials were concerned with popular opinion so that they would get re-elected rather than anyone on the school board actually believing that Greene was a negligent administrator. He headed back to his office, wishing it was seven and he could be at home with his wife, daughter and a nice bowl of hot chili.

* * *

_4:47 p.m. – Forks Community Hospital_

Visiting hours were almost over, and, after finishing the latest book she was reading to Mrs. Cope, Rosalie found herself idly chatting with the comatose woman before her. Angela and Ben's visit had been short and Rose figured she had a bit of herself to blame for that. She hadn't meant to be so harsh on Angela but when Royce started spreading those rumors about her being a slut it had been the religious set at Forks High who went on damning Rosalie for her bad behavior before even asking if it was true. Her parents had never been particularly religious and she doubted the family was Lutheran to begin with, but the "Forks High and Mighty" as Rosalie had nicknamed them took up her alleged whorish ways as their _cause célèbre_ for an uncomfortable amount of time.

For weeks on end she had found Bible verses about fallen women stuffed into her lockers, and for a while she thought Angela had been the culprit. Of course, when a senior who belonged to the Forks High Bible Club had basically jumped her after lunch and asked if she was ready to repent for her sins and accept Jesus; Rose figured Angela hadn't been behind locker verses at all. The fact that the handwriting on the Bible verse slips was the same as the handwriting on the girls' bathroom wall about her presumed slutty actively probably would have ruled Angela out in retrospect. Rose tried not to chuckle herself when she thought about it. Forks High's school slut was still a virgin.

A knock on the door brought Rose out of her sarcastic line of thinking.

"Visiting hours arealmost over," she said without looking, smoothing down her candy striper uniform. She turned to find Emmett McCarty of all people standing in the doorway with a large vase of sunflowers clutched to his chest.

"I know, I uh…" he began. "I was helping my mom get groceries and… wanted to stop by before they ended visiting hours and I uh… brought this."

"Sunflowers" Rose asked in surprise. Emmett nodded, walked over and put them on the table beside Mrs. Cope's bed.

"Yeah," Emmett nodded. "I noticed she had one of those flower pins with a sunflower on it and they were the backdrop on her computer screen and… I thought she might like them, you know? Put a little cheer into this place and make it more… homey… You know, personalize? I mean, I'm a dude and all so I'm not a big fan of flowers, but those balloons Alice Brandon brought Jasper really made our hotel room less… clinical… I guess is the word I'm looking for?"

"Thank you, Emmett," Rose smiled. "I'm sure… I'm sure Mrs. Cope will really appreciate them."

"Can I, I mean… is it okay if I talk with her?" Emmett asked worriedly.

"I always do," Rose nodded.

"Okay," Emmett said, pulling up the only other chair in the room beside Rose. He looked at Mrs. Cope intently for a moment, as if what he was about to say was very important and needed to be phrased just so."

"Hey, Shelley, it's me Emmett," he said, trying to sound as cheerful as possible. "I know what you're thinking, and no I'm not here to get a late pass because I was goofing off with the guys again. Not that you ever judge too harshly or anything… Anyway, Shells, you gotta get better because I'm going to be a senior in the fall and I need at least one more year of seeing your bright, shining face every morning before they send me up out into the big scary real world. Remember how I helped you put up that new bookshelf in your office after practice sophomore year and you said you owed me one? Well, I'm calling in that favor now, Shelley. You gotta get better for all of us. You gotta wake up and get better and be behind that big desk this fall so you can tell all those freshmen what's what. I am sorry that I haven't come around to visit you more, but that's going to change. You're going to get sick of me you hear?"

Emmett turned to Rose, seeming a little abashed that he had just spilled his guts to the secretary in front of her. However, Rose was smiling even if she was blinking back a few tears out of her eyes. In a move Emmett didn't anticipate, Rose leaned forward and threw her arms around him in a big hug. Emmett didn't know what else to do, but hugged her back, trying to ignore the tingly sensation in his chest.

"Thank you, Emmett," Rose smiled.

"I owe it to her," Emmett shrugged. "She was always nice to me. Kind of reminds me of my grandma in a way… though she's much younger. I guess more like a fun aunt or something."

"She is," Rose nodded.

"Well, I probably better get back out before my mom comes in for me because the milk is going bad and the ice cream has melted," Emmett said. "You don't need a ride or anything?"

"No," Rose shook her head. "My mom is coming to pick me up. We're meeting my dad for supper."

"Okay," Emmett smiled. "Well… see you around, Rose."

"Bye, Emmett," Rose nodded. She waited and listened as Emmett's heavy footsteps barreled down the hallway and then turned to fluff Mrs. Cope's pillow before staring at the sunflowers Emmett had left on her bedside table and sighed. "He's really nice, isn't he?" Rose wasn't surprised that Mrs. Cope didn't say anything. She sighed again. "I can't wait for you to wake up. We really need to talk."

Rose looked up at the clock and then gave Mrs. Cope's hand a squeeze before turning and heading to the lobby to meet up with her mother.

* * *

**End Note:**

_According to Do Something . org, 1 in 12 high school students are threatened with a weapon each year. An estimated 1 in 20 students have reported seeing a gun on school grounds._

_An estimated 87 percent of school shootings are motivated by "revenge" while 86 percent of students said bullying makes them "consider lethal violence" against peers. An estimated 61 percent of school shooters are believed to be victims or witnesses to domestic violence in their home._

_Suicide rates for children aged 14 and under have increased every year since 2002. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15-to-24-year-olds, and the sixth leading cause of death for 5-to-14-year-olds. According to the CDC, the only thing that causes more teen deaths than suicide is vehicle accidents and homicide in that order._

_More LGBT students are bullied than any other subgroup. An estimated 9 out of 10 LGBT youth have been bullied in some way for their sexual orientation, with nearly half reporting that this bullying involved physical harassment. Two-thirds of bullied LGBT students never report the incident to the school and a third of those who did report the incident said school administration "did nothing."_


	14. Chapter 14

**Thanks to dowlingnana**

* * *

_I say violence is necessary. It is as American as cherry pie._

_- Hubert Geroid Brown (also known as H. Rap Brown), Black Panther Leader_

* * *

_Monday, April 21, 2008_

_7:05 p.m. – Swan Residence_

"So… are we going to start school at the same time Monday?" Bella asked over her bowl of chili. Her father had brought home the news that school would resume at the Tribal School the next week, and Bella was eager for the distraction of her studies.

"The Tribal School starts thirty-minutes earlier, but they get out earlier too," Charlie replied. "They're taking the week to organize how the bus routes will work and rearrange schedules. The Tribal School has some class offerings you all don't, and Forks High has some classes the Tribal School doesn't offer, so there will be some rearranging to be done. Of course, this late in the year I don't think it will have too much of an impact. And they're suspending final exams… in light of the circumstances…"

"I guess I'll have to wake up a little earlier to make it in on time, huh?" Bella nodded. Renee bit her lip and looked between her husband and daughter.

"I don't think it's such a good idea if Bella drives all the way down to La Push on her own," Renee said. "It's a very dangerous road when it's raining… which is all the time…"

"Mom, I can drive in the rain," Bella snorted. "We live in Forks."

"Yes, but it's a much bigger distance and if something happened to your truck…" Renee began.

"The truck is fine, Renee. Had our guy at the station tune it up a month ago," Charlie pointed out.

"I would just feel safer if she wasn't alone," Renee sighed. "Maybe you could hitch a ride with Alice and her sister?"

"I guess," Bella grimaced, "but what if I need to stay after for something or Alice has to leave earlier?"

"It's two weeks, Bella," Renee shook her head. "I think it's for the best."

"Dad" Bella protested.

"Bells, it would put your mother's mind at ease," Charlie said gently. "And it's just for a few weeks."

"Fine," Bella conceded.

Charlie started to get up to put his dish in the sink, but Renee stopped him and instead encouraged him to go relax in the living room while she handled the dishes. A matter of minutes later, Bella found herself roped into helping her mother wash the dishes. Though she tried to hide it, Bella was stewing. Ordinarily, she wouldn't have bickered with her mother over the decision to drive to La Push, but knowing what had transpired between her parents made Bella furious. She didn't understand how her father was fine with all of this, how he could go on acting like nothing had happened.

"Is everything alright, Bella" Renee asked, her eyes full of concern for her daughter. "I know you like the freedom that driving brings, but I'm really…"

"I'm not mad about that," Bella gritted.

"What's wrong, honey?" Renee asked curiously.

"How could you cheat on Dad?" Bella blurted out before she realized what she was saying. "How could you do that to him?" Renee looked bewildered at first and then glanced around to see if her husband had heard Bella's outburst.

"How did you…?" Renee began.

"I overheard you and Dad talking earlier," Bella grimaced. "Were you ever going to tell me?"

"No," Renee admitted. "Your father and I thought it was best… if you didn't know… It's something we wanted to work out for ourselves. It has nothing to do with you, sweetie…"

"It has nothing to do with me?" Bella said furiously. "You're my parents!"

"What's going on in here?" Charlie asked, standing in the doorway. Renee averted her eyes to the ground and Charlie knew exactly what must have happened. "Oh, Bells," he sighed.

"Why didn't you two tell me?" Bella demanded to know.

"We didn't want to hurt you," Charlie shook his head. "Your mother and I were working things out, and we felt it was best that you didn't know. Things haven't always been perfect between us, but your mother and I always agree to do what's best for you."

"This has no bearing on how much we love you, sweetie," Renee nodded. "I made a mistake. A huge mistake and I am so lucky that your father chose to forgive me. We both love each other and you very much, and honestly, I wish I could forget the entire thing every happened."

"I just… I just don't get it," Bella sighed.

"It is complicated," Charlie admitted. "All you need to know is that I love your mother, she loves me and we are going to make things work between us."

"And no matter what, you are always our top priority," Renee nodded.

"Okay," Bella sighed.

"Bells, how about you let me help your mother with those dishes, huh?" Charlie suggested. Bella nodded and headed up to her room. She still wasn't happy, but after the past few weeks, she realized her parents marital problems probably weren't the worst thing that could happen.

* * *

_8:05 p.m. – Whitlock Residence_

Peter had gone back to school and now Jasper was alone with his parents. Things had been good so far, but the incident at his counseling session was now weighing heavily on the family. Zafrina, the counselor in charge of the entire counseling program, had apparently talked with Tia and then pulled Jasper and his parents' aside before they left. Zafrina was apparently very concerned for Jasper's mental health considering the loss of his friend and thought Jasper might benefit with seeing a grief counselor in addition to continuing the school-sponsored group therapy sessions. At this point, Jasper felt the last thing that would make him feel better would be talking about Jimmy, and, after the incident with Doug, Jasper was convinced he would be the new scapegoat for the new power elite at school.

When they arrived back home, Jasper's parents had tried to sit him down for a discussion about regular therapy sessions, but Jasper had been opposed to it. Though his parents approached it from being concerned for his mental health and wanting the best for him so he could move on, all Jasper could focus on was worrying everyone thought he was crazy or worse, just like Jimmy? The discussion ended up with him blowing up at both of his parents locking himself up in his room, while blaring his angry rock music refusing to come down for supper as well. Annoyed with his son's behavior, Randall Whitlock threatened to take down Jasper's door and now Jasper found himself sitting on his bed, watching menacingly as his father took the door that had been unscrewed from its hinges and set it aside in the hallway.

"This is no way to deal with this, Jasper Samuel," Randall said to his son, annoyed. Jasper rolled his eyes to show he wasn't intimidated by the use of his middle name. "I don't know what has gotten into you lately, but I have a feeling a lot of this is a reaction to the grief that you're feeling."

"I'm not seeing some quack," Jasper growled. Randall sighed.

"You know, I think what you're rebelling against just happens to be the thing that could most help you," Randall said, taking a seat in Jasper's swiveling desk chair. "You have every right to be angry and grief-stricken, but stewing in those emotions isn't going to benefit anyone, least of all you."

"I don't want to talk about it," Jasper grimaced.

"And why not" Randall sighed. Jasper tried to avoid his father's gaze. "I asked a question. I'm expecting an answer."

"I don't want to talk about it," Jasper replied. "I don't want to talk about Jimmy. I don't want to think about it… I just… can't…"

"I think you need to, son, not despite the fact it hurts but because it's hurting you," Randall said. "I know you'll disagree with me, but I think you inherited y our mother's… emotional sensitivity is what I think she calls it. You feel things deeper than the rest of us. You can empathize with other people, and that's a wonderful thing but it's also something you shouldn't keep inside yourself."

"I'm not ready. Not yet," Jasper shook his head. "I just… I can't deal with thinking about him right now."

"Alright, how does your complete emotional shutdown fit in to what that punk ass kid said to you today?" Randall asked, crossing his arms.

"It's nothing," Jasper shrugged.

"Some idiot threatening my kid is not, nothing," Randall huffed. "I heard what he said to you, and if you actually believe that asshole I should thump you on the head."

"I know he's an idiot," Jasper shrugged, "but everyone thinks like him."

"Not everyone," Randall shook his head.

"Well, most people," Jasper shook his head.

"I wouldn't even say most people," Randall replied. "In fact, in my experience the people who have the dumbest ideas are usually the ones who talk the loudest. And the fact that they're talking the loudest sometimes makes the majority of us who are rational, average people either too afraid to speak up for fear of being shouted down. That kid's probably just spouting off some shit his old man said anyway. The point is you are too good to let some douchebag kid's opinion weigh you down."

"Dad, I was Jimmy's only friend, the only person who cared enough to get to know him," Jasper said. "And even though I hate what he did, I'm the only person who can defend him. And it sucks because what he did was awful… the worst thing ever… but I can't reconcile that with the guy who was my best friend. And believe me, it's not easy defending a guy whose public enemy number one around here. It's like… I don't know… It's like he's two people, you know?"

"And that is exactly why I feel like you would benefit with talking with a professional," Randall said. "You need someone who is not involved in this, someone who has no emotional investment and can reassure you. You aren't going to believe it coming from me and your mother because we're your parents, so I think you need that extra reassurance."

"I'll think about it okay?" Jasper sighed.

"They're flying me back on Friday," Randall announced. "I'd like to know your answer before I get on that plane."

"Okay, Dad," Jasper sighed. Randall stood up to leave the room but Jasper stopped him. "Uh… can I get my door back?"

"Sure," Randall laughed.

* * *

_10:15 p.m. – Perry Street_

Jasper hadn't sneaked out of the house in months. In fact, the last time was at least seven months ago when Jimmy showed up at his bedroom window, battered, bloody and still mad Victoria was ignoring his phone calls. The two of them had walked through the neighborhood and down to Mill Creek in the darkness. He had let Jimmy vent and the two of them smoked a little grass before heading back to Jasper's house. Jimmy had passed out on a makeshift bed in Jasper's floor and thankfully his mother didn't say anything when Jimmy came down to join the Whitlock family for breakfast the next morning. Of course, the bruised lip and black eye Jimmy was sporting probably gave Mary Whitlock some indication of why her son had offered his friend a safe haven for the night.

Now, Jasper was on his own wandering aimlessly in the dark toward the creek, wondering how things had changed so much since all those months before when he and Jimmy had still been the best of friends. He couldn't think of a way he didn't try to help Jimmy, but after so many phone calls, visits to his house and waves in the school hallway were ignored, Jasper gave up. For a moment, he wondered if Jimmy had wanted him to give up, if he had wanted to sever all of the ties between them. It hadn't helped Jasper escape the stigma Jimmy had left behind. In fact, his friend's behavior confused the hell out of him. I didn't know if it could be technically classified as erratic. The more Jasper thought, the more his head hurt and the more he wished Jimmy was still around. He needed answers and there was no way he could get them now.

Jasper was at the end of the street when he started getting the sneaking suspicion that he wasn't alone. In fact, the crack of a tree branch in the road behind him confirmed Jasper's sudden inkling that he was being followed. He expected to see a stray cat, dog or possibly even a deer or raccoon giving the wooded nature of the Forks area. Though, roughly the same size of a deer, the creature standing before him was most definitely Alice Brandon. He had to admit, if Alice was staking him it wasn't too much of a disappointment.

"Hi… I was just…" Alice began, searching for a way to explain her presence in the middle of the street in the middle of the night in a way that didn't make her look like a total creeper. "I saw someone outside and I went to check who it was." Jasper looked up and realized the house before him was Alice's. He had forgotten they lived only a few blocks away.

"Yeah… I just… wanted to go for a walk," Jasper winced, knowing his late evening stroll excuse was even lamer than Alice's.

"It's kind of late," Alice pointed out.

"Yeah," Jasper admitted, scratching the back of his left shoe with the toe of his right. "I just… needed to get out, you know?"

"I know," Alice nodded, walking up so she was standing beside him. "So, where are we headed?"

"Uh… I usually go to the creek and back," Jasper shrugged.

"Okay," Alice nodded. They walked together in silence for a few seconds before Alice piped up again. "Anything you want to talk about?"

"After today I'm a little sick of talking," Jasper admitted. Alice nodded in agreement.

"So… I guess you heard we're going to the Tribal School next week?" Alice asked curiously.

"Yeah," Jasper nodded.

"I'm hoping they have an art class. Apparently they don't have some of the classes we offer and I really want to have art," Alice sighed. "It's my escape, you know? I asked Chief Swan if he would let me into the school to get at all of the stuff I was working on before, but he said it's still a crime scene and won't let me in. It might be the end of summer before I can get it back, which sucks because I was working on this really beautiful piece and if I lose my momentum I just don't think I'll get it back. I've tried to start something new at home, but I'm just in a funk and I can't seem to get anything to work… it's totally frustrating."

"Do you paint when you're not in school?" Jasper asked.

"Yeah," Alice shrugged, "but the art teacher has some supplies that are much nicer than mine. I mean, there is no way my parents would let me drop a hundred bucks on awesome colored pencils or the name brand paints and stuff. They'd be happier if they could pick up one of those two-dollar watercolor kits for kids. Besides, a lot of the stuff I'm working on now I'm also doing at school and I didn't get to take it home with me that day and… sorry I keep bringing it up."

"No… it's nice to… listen," Jasper replied, "Takes my mind off my own problems for a while. You don't… have to tiptoe around me…"

"I was really scared, you know," Alice admitted quietly. "I was scared that you were going to die. I just… I never thought Jimmy could do something like that either. I mean, he and I were far from friends or anything, but we did have a lot of classes together and he seemed like a nice guy. He would smile a lot back then and he was really smart. I didn't realize all the things Royce and Larry and Mike were doing to him was hitting him so hard. I mean, they treated all of us like that, so I guess I just dismissed it as normal for them or something. I wish… I wish I had said something or spoken up or just… done something. I mean, I never told my parents about all the things that happened at school. I feel terrible that I didn't say something… that maybe I could have prevented it somehow…"

Jasper didn't really know what to say. He honestly thought he was the most to blame for everything, and here was Alice Brandon saying she felt guilty, that she should have spoken up, that she should have known something was up with Jimmy even though the two of them barely gave each other a nod in the hallway. It was the first time Jasper realized that other people might feel as guilty as he did, that someone else at school might wish they had stood up or spoken up or just done _something_. He knew exactly what he wanted to tell Alice; it was the same thing his parents had been trying to tell him that he just refused to believe.

"I'm starting to wonder if it could have been prevented," Jasper admitted. "Principal Greene didn't listen when Jimmy was bullied. I wonder if he would have bothered to listen or take it seriously if someone told him Jimmy was going to bring a gun to school. He probably would have dismissed that too. I don't think he believed it could happen until after it was over…"

"As much as that sucks, I think you're right," Alice sighed.

"Besides, it's not like any of us could have predicted the future," Jasper had to admit. "I still am having a hard time believing Jimmy did something like this. I just… it seemed out of character for him to me. I mean, the guy would freak out if he hit a squirrel with his car. I couldn't see him ever hurting another person."

"I think it's important that you remember him that way," Alice said. "That you know that he wasn't always this monster everyone thinks he is. That at one point he was a nice, normal guy, you know? It's weird to think of, but Jimmy was just a kid like us once, wasn't he?"

"I think so," Jasper sighed. "Sometimes, I'm not sure about anything. Not anymore."

"I know," Alice nodded. She reached out, grabbed Jasper's hand and squeezed it. He had to admit, it made him feel a lot better.

"I should probably be getting back home," Jasper sighed. "If my mom goes into my room and finds I'm not there, she'll freak."

"I should head back too," Alice nodded. "My sister hasn't been sleeping well lately, so I've been letting her crawl into my bed. It's weird. I saw the whole thing and I'm not having nightmares, but Cynthia was locked up safe in the library and she wakes up crying every night."

"Everyone deals with things differently," Jasper nodded.

The two of them walked back to their respective homes and it wasn't until Jasper waved goodbye to Alice in front of her house that he realized they had held hands the entire walk back.

* * *

**End Note:**

_According to an FBI research project into school shootings, 25 percent of adolescents are "at high risk for psycho-social problems and poor developmental outcomes such as academic failure, alcohol and other drug abuse, delinquency and problems with the law and violence."_

_The same report found that 20 percent of all adolescents will have a "diagnosable mental health disorder." The 13-20 age range has the "highest rate for any age group" of developing a mental health disorder._

_The FBI said that many school shooters will perform acts of "leakage" before their event. Leakage is defined by the FBI as "when a student intentionally or unintentionally reveals clues to feelings, thoughts, fantasies, attitudes, or intentions that may signal an impending violent act. These clues can take the form of subtle threats, boasts, innuendos, predictions, or ultimatums. They may be spoken or conveyed in stories, diary entries, essays, poems, letters, songs, drawings, doodles, tattoos, or videos." Leakage can be as simple as asking to borrow a gun for a "hunting expedition" to making obvious threats._


	15. Chapter 15

**Thanks to dowlingnana**

* * *

"…_Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me."_

_– From "First they came…" by Martin Niemöller, German pastor and anti-Nazi activist_

* * *

_Thursday, April 24, 2008_

_9:58 a.m. – Forks Community Center_

Edward was surprised to see the entire therapy group minus Doug back together and even early for their session meeting on Thursday. While Logan, Dean and Whitney whispered quietly to each other in their seats, Edward watched as Emmett McCarty switched back and forth between telling jokes to Jasper and Rose, who both really looked like they needed a smile. It was easy for Edward to figure out that Jasper was still feeling a lot of guilt after the last session and the fact that his father had come home every night slightly discouraged at Ms. Cope's progress was probably the reason why Rose was so upset. Everyone at the hospital knew that Rose was not only the most dedicated candy striper at Forks Community but that she had also been spending a lot of time with Ms. Cope lately.

The day before, Chief Swan and his team had announced the discovery of the person who leaked Jimmy Hunter's personal student file to the media. It was Hazel Binker, a secretary to the school's vice-principal. That in itself seemed odd, but, when it was revealed Hazel was the sister of Eleanor Katz and therefore the aunt of Victoria, it became apparent why she had inflicted the damage she had. The family had been trying to drum up sympathy for their daughter rather than sympathy for the fact that school administrators were ignored. The fact that the Katz family had been behind the leak only worsened the media interest in them and, as of 5 p.m. the previous night, celebrity gossip sites had been uploading photos of Victoria, Larry and Royce, showing them drunk, high and posting their Facebook harassments of fellow students. Though there was an amount of _Schadenfreude_ in seeing these classmates finally exposed, it didn't escape Edward's ire or disbelief that the shooting at his school was now the fodder for celebrity gossip sites. Since when did his school tragedy rank up with the latest antics of Lindsay Lohan or Brittney Spears?

Edward wondered secretly how many of them had actually done the writing assignment Tia had asked them to do. He was sure Dean and Logan had just scribbled the minimum and he could see Whitney doing the same. Bella had already confessed to him she had filled up entire pages and Angela seemed like she would do the same. Everyone else was harder to read. Edward had written a lot more than he was willing to admit regarding his feelings over the entire incident. In fact, Edward had been so surprised at how much emotion was balled up inside him over the entire thing. The writing exercise had been pretty helpful, even though it did make Edward concerned over how much anger was inside him.

The first thing Tia did when she entered the room was ask to see everyone's journals and for a moment, Edward was afraid she was going to start reading them aloud. However, she said she would be reading them over the next few days and would be giving them back to everyone during their Saturday session. The return of school meant the sessions had to be rescheduled for those that still wanted to come, so Tia told everyone there would be sessions now available Monday and Thursday afternoons at four as well as Saturday's at one in the afternoon.

"Now," Tia began. "The other day we began with listing how this incident made us feel: We talked a little bit about those emotions and how we are dealing with them. Today, I want us to discuss the incident. I want you all to tell me about how that day began for you."

Tia again paused, as if she was waiting for one of them to speak up. Edward wondered if Tia was new at this or something because she kept waiting for teenagers to volunteer information about their feelings to her. Instead of speaking up, everyone's eyes floated around the room in an attempt to not make eye contact with anyone else.

"Whitney? Will you start us off?" Tia asked. Whitney shifted uncomfortably.

"Um… how?" she asked.

"Just tell us about everything you did that day," Tia replied.

"Um… I woke up… I had waffles for breakfast, I think," Whitney said. "My dad had already left for work and my mom had a dentist appointment that morning, so I drove my little sister to her school and then I drove to my school… I mean, it was a really normal day. I went to my classes, I said hi to… Jessica. She's my cousin. We talked about hanging out at our uncle's place that weekend… and then I just went to class and… I never saw her again. I was in the back building for first period, so I didn't even hear anything. I didn't even know anything was wrong until the SWAT guys interrupted our history class and told us we had to evacuate… it was so surreal… Like a movie, you know?" Tia nodded.

"Logan?" she prompted.

"Well… not so different, I guess," Logan said. "I ate breakfast, came to school, said hi to Larry, Royce and Mike on my way to homeroom… and the day was pretty much normal. I went to class… like Whitney said. I didn't even know anything was happening until these ATF guys started telling us to evacuate."

"Dean?" Tia prompted.

"I don't really remember much," Dean admitted. "I don't know… that morning is kind of a blank. I remember going to school and sitting in homeroom and stuff… and I remember hearing something sounding like fireworks in woodshop, but again I didn't know anything was happening until police were knocking on our classroom door. It was so weird that something like that could be going on like a hundred feet away and we had no idea, you know?"

"I know," Tia nodded. She looked over at Ben, who scratched the back of his neck.

"Um… Angela and I work the library first period. We're student workers?" Ben shrugged. "Anyway, it was really normal. Actually kind of warm that morning. I thought I might actually get to each lunch outside for a change… Anyway, we were waiting for Mrs. Gale, the head librarian, to come in and give us our assignments for the day when we heard that popping noise like Dean said…All of a sudden a whole bunch of people starting running into the library screaming that Jimmy Hunter had a gun and he was… shooting at people. It was hard to believe at first, but everyone was so scared so we just… We took everyone we could into the copy room, turned the lights off and locked the door…"

"We thought if he came into the library it would be best that he thought no one was there, you know? That we'd all left and run somewhere else," Angela said. "I had the key and we locked the door from the inside and told everyone to crouch down and hide. We turned the lights off… it was… It was horrible. We could hear the gunfire and people screaming in the hallway and we didn't know if he was coming closer or getting further away. I felt like I was holding my breath the entire time…I didn't know if anyone was really hurt or anything at that point…"

"I did," Rose said quietly. "Alec and I were the last people who made it into the library."

"He shot Tyler Crowley and Austin Marks in the hall and then everything went berserk," Alec nodded.

"I've been working at the hospital for a year now, but I'd never seen so much blood and…" Rose shivered.

"You know… while I was sitting there in the library…" Alec sighed. "All I could think was that my sister was dead. I mean, Janie and I never had that freaky twin sense stuff they talk about, but it was like I knew she was next, you know? I knew she hung out with the same people I would have gone after if I was Jimmy. I knew she was a bitch to him. I mean, I didn't want her to die, but she wasn't the nicest person. It was so weird. I was all nervous and shit and then the minute it happened, I knew she was gone. And I felt a little calm all of a sudden, you know? Like, even though she was dead she was okay. They said he killed Janie and Tanya and then…"

"He shot Eric when he saw him hiding behind the lockers," Emmett finished: "And then Lee when he tried to run. And then he shot Dr. Banner when Banner tried to stop him from opening up his classroom door. The lock was always a little loose… and then Jessica and Lauren thought he had forgotten about them in the bathroom and came out only to find themselves right in front of him… and then Jasper jumped him." Edward felt his eyes with the rest of the rooms turn toward Jasper, who was fidgeting nervously.

"I thought maybe I could talk him out of it… or at least try and talk him out of hurting anyone else…" Jasper shrugged. "But when I looked at him… it was like he was a completely different person, you know? I could barely recognize him. I tried… but he was too far gone with whatever mania had come over him. He didn't want to talk to me… so he shot me. I guess he figured shooting me would shut me up."

"It sounds to me like Jimmy didn't want to listen to reason at that point, Jasper," Tia said softly.

"I just wish I had been able to get the gun away from him first," Jasper sighed. "I should have tried harder."

"You were bleeding," Alice reminded him. "If you had tried harder, he would have killed you too. He didn't just shoot the people who upset him. He shot anyone who got in his way. He would have shot you just so he could finish up whatever it was he was trying to do."

"What was he trying to do?" Whitney asked with a scoff.

"Apparently, he was trying to shoot me," Bella sniffled. "He was mad. He was mad that his dad came home drunk and beat his mom and that my dad had no legal recourse to stop it. Jimmy's mom would never press charges, and so he had to deal with it. I think it broke him, really. And Daddy wanted to do something, but his hands were tied. I think Jimmy… I think he wanted my dad to feel as bad as he did on the inside. And then Emmett and Edward tried to stop him and got shot and then…"

"Then the SWAT Team showed up and he made them chase him up the stairs to the second floor so they would kill him," Edward finished. "He wasn't coming out of it alive. I think he decided that before he even walked into the building that morning."

"It's so hard to believe that it's real," Bella admitted. "I think it's a dream…. that I'm going to wake up every morning and it's going to be Monday again and we'll get to start over and everything will be okay…" Her tears started falling and her voice was marred by the beginning of sobs. "But… but then I wake up… and it's real and it happened and I'm having a nightmare, but it's a real nightmare. It's like every day is a nightmare now."

"I have a 'Quote a Day' calendar on my desk at home," Ben admitted. "I haven't changed the date since that Monday. I just… I can't do it, you know? It's like changing the date would make it real… as odd as that sounds…"

"I want a time machine," Jasper sighed. "Sometimes, I wonder if I could find that old Delorean… shoot it up to 88 miles an hour if I could go back in time and find Jimmy six months ago and talk him out of all this… tell him how much he hurt people he really cared about… I don't know if it would have worked or anything, but I just wish I had five minutes with him to talk him out of it…"

"I wish I had five minutes to tell him Royce and Larry and Mike were douchebags and he shouldn't have listened to them," Emmett admitted. "I wish I had been nicer to him, you know? That I told someone he was being bullied… that I had tried to be his friend instead of just figuring he was handling everything fine on his own. And I wish I could have told Royce and Larry and all of them they were being idiots and if they didn't stop they were going to be in a world of hurt… literally…"

"I never thought it would go that far," Dean admitted. "I mean, yeah, we kind of teased each other in the locker room and stuff and I guess a lot of the stuff we did to guys like Jimmy is bullying or whatever… but I just thought it was stuff guys do, you know? Larry and Mike and Royce… they were the only ones who really did stuff… the rest of us kind of stood there and laughed…"

"That's the worst thing you could have done," Jasper sneered. "Why do you think guys like Larry, Royce and Mike do those things, huh? To get a laugh; And the fact that you laughed made them keep on doing it and the fact that you laughed made all of us feel twenty times worse. Do you have any idea what it's like to be publicly humiliated like that? To feel like the entire school is laughing at you on a daily basis? I mean, by laughing you're basically saying what those guys did to Jimmy was okay, that you approved of it, and that he deserved it. Maybe it's funny when you give a guy a swirly or shove him in his locker or toss him in a garbage bin, but it's not so funny when he pulls a Glock on you because he can't take it anymore, is it?"

"Jasper, please calm down," Tia said to him soothingly.

"You aren't blameless," Jasper told Dean and Logan furiously. "Sometimes, standing by and doing nothing is the worst thing you can do." Edward noticed that Dean and Logan at least had the decency to look slightly ashamed.

"I think we need to step away from the blame game for a minute and look at the facts," Tia pointed out. "There are some things we do know about your classmate that led to this. He was being abused at home. He was no longer being provided the medication he needed to keep his brain chemically balanced. He had suffered severe bullying at school in addition to the domestic violence he witnessed at home. He felt his heart was broken. He felt he was in a place where everything had hit rock bottom and was never going to get better. We also know that there wasn't much intervention from adults in the school administration who should have and did even see these signs. A lot of factors went in to making Jimmy who he was and why he was capable of something like this."

"He was psycho," Whitney snorted.

"He wasn't 'psycho,'" Tia shook her head. "He was suffering from depression and bipolar disorders, Whitney. Those are both very common diseases for people your age and are becoming even more prevalent. In fact, with the odds being one-out-of-five, there is a good chance that two of the ten of you have experienced some sort of long-term depression."

"Yeah, but not everyone turns their guns on their classmates," Dean pointed out.

"Not everyone gets bullied at school only to go home and get beat up by their dad either," Rose snorted. "I mean, sure, what he did was horrible, but he had a shitty life, you know? People can only take so much before they crack. I'd like to see you deal with everything going on in his life and be perfectly fine."

"How do you know so much about it?" Dean shot back.

"Sometimes… sometimes I'd be working the women's center at the hospital when his mom would come in," Rose admitted ". She had bruises all over the place… sometimes she brought Jimmy's little sister Morgan too… she had a black eye she'd gotten… apparently she'd gotten between her parents during a fight… Anyway, Jimmy's mom… she'd let them give her a cast and look at her ribs, but she'd never admit her husband hit her or anything. And the doctor's would send the police to follow up at their house but… I guess she denied everything there too, huh?"

"Jimmy said… his mom didn't think she could make it on her own," Jasper said. "That her dad had been pretty abusive too, and that she really honestly thought it was her fault that he hit her. She couldn't really see how badly it was hurting the kids… and she wouldn't leave him. She kept thinking if she showed him she would stay no matter what it would have gotten better…"

"I don't know much about what his home life was like," Rose admitted. "But the last time his mom came in to the clinic that I saw… let's just say if Jimmy hadn't killed his family, his dad would have killed his mom eventually. It was a wonder that she was able to survive what he dished out."

"How come they didn't go for help: Either of them?" Angela just shook her head. "I know Jimmy tried to talk to people at school… but why didn't he just keep trying until someone listened?"

"It's not that simple," Edward admitted. "I know what it was like… even if Principal Greene caught Royce or Larry in the act, he'd ignore it. You'd go to the man to tell him you were afraid to walk down the hall to your class because of these guys and he'd dismiss you. He'd tell you that you were overreacting or that 'boys will be boys' or to 'toughen up.' Once you get so many doors slammed in your face… it's just not worth it anymore. You figure no one wants to hear it, no one wants to listen."

"Why should he have to work for it, anyway?" Alice snorted. "You shouldn't have to try and make someone listen to you when you need help. They should want to listen, want to help you. That's the man's freaking job after all, right?"

"Well, our time is about up for today," Tia admitted. "But I do have an assignment for all of you." A collective groan came up from the room. "I want you all between now and Saturday to think of one way you can be kinder to your classmates, one thing you can do to brighten someone's day: Alright?"

The group murmured their agreements and then headed out of the room. Edward managed to get a furtive glance at Bella, who smiled at him warmly, and then ran after Rosalie with Alice hot on her heels. He couldn't help but wonder what the two girls were up to.

* * *

**End Note:**

_The quote at the top is taken from the poem "First they came…" which is largely attributed to anti-Nazi activist and Lutheran minister Martin Niemöller to decry the way German intellectuals refused to speak out when the Nazi party began arresting various groups. Niemöller himself was arrested and sent to Dachau for "not being enthusiastic enough" about Nazism. He was released in 1945 when his camp was liberated by the Allies and became a major figure in the effort to reconcile the two parts of Germany after the war. _

_According to a study done by the National Institute of Mental Healthy, bipolar diagnoses in teens have increased forty-fold in the past decade alone. An estimated 20 percent of teenagers will experience some form of depression before reaching adulthood and 15 percent of these children will develop more serious mental health issues, including bipolar disorder. Less than 33 percent of depressed teens seek help. _

_The same study also found teen boys are less likely to report they are suffering from depression due to gender stereotypes and being less emotionally open with their peers. Teen boys still develop depression at the same rate as teen girls, but studies show boys are four more times likely to commit suicide than girls. Boys are also more likely to "succeed" in their attempts at suicide as they are more likely to choose more lethal means (guns, knives, and hanging) as opposed to girls (who are more likely to choose pills, overdose, etc.)_


	16. Chapter 16

**Thanks to dowlingnana**

* * *

_"Our sorrows and wounds are healed only when we touch them with compassion." - Buddha_

* * *

_Thursday, April 24, 2008_

_10:04 a.m. – Forks Community Center_

"Hey, Rose! Wait up!" Alice Brandon called from down the hallway.

"Yeah" Rose asked skeptically, turning around to face the two girls.

"Bella was wondering…" Alice began.

"We both were wondering," Bella corrected, glaring at her friend.

"…if you'd sign our card," Alice said, producing a giant poster board from her bag. It had been doodled on with glitter pens and Alice had written "Get Well Soon" on the front in big letters with plenty of flowery decorations. Bella, Alice, and Alice's sister Cynthia were still the only signatories on the board, leaving little messages.

"We were thinking about bringing it by this afternoon," Bella said, helping Alice place the poster board on the table by the exit door. "We were hoping everyone here would sign it, and I know you've really been by her side through it…"

"Sure," Rose smiled. She took one of the gel pens Alice produced and signed her name along with a note wishing Ms. Cope well.

"What's that?" Emmett's voice boomed, gaining all of the attention of the students filing out of their therapy sessions.

"It's a get well card for Ms. Cope," Alice beamed back. "Anyone that wants to can sign it!"

"Put me down!" Emmett replied, coming to stand behind Rose and taking a blue gel pen from Alice.

With Emmett McCarty at the front of the line just about every single remaining student present also lined up to jot down their name. Rose found herself smiling more than she ever thought possible at the line of people waiting to wish Ms. Cope well. Many of the parents also found their way downstairs to the line to place their own signatures. Alice and Bella had thought ahead to bring in plenty of pens for everyone to use.

The back and front of Alice and Bella's poster board was full by the time everyone had signed. In addition to many students just putting down their names, others had filled the card with how much they enjoyed Ms. Cope's presence and their best wishes for her to get well. It seemed to Rose that plenty of people had nice stories about Ms. Cope and felt she was an important part of their school day. It was one of Rose's fears about starting classes at the Tribal School the next week. Ms. Cope's smile had greeted her and many other students every morning. Often, Ms. Cope's smile was not only the high point of Rose's day but gave her the confidence to walk into a school building where she knew she would be teased, degraded and whispered about for the next seven hours. With the last signature placed, Alice picked up the card and got it ready to take to the hospital.

"I hope she'll like it," Bella told Rose. "I know she's not… you know… awake… but Alice and I were talking last night and we thought it might do her some good to have some decorations for her room…and naturally Alice had poster board just lying around…"

"I never know what you'll need for an artistic project!" Alice chortled.

"I'm sure she'll appreciate it," Rose nodded. "Emmett brought her sunflowers yesterday. He said he always saw them on her desk."

"I didn't think about that," Bella nodded.

"So… I guess we'll see you later this afternoon?" Alice grinned.

"Sure," Rose rolled her eyes. "I'll be the one in the pink."

* * *

_11:08 p.m. – Forks Diner_

It was hard for Jasper to look up across the table at his smiling parents. His dad had wanted a burger and since the Major would be shipping back out to an unknown future in Afghanistan the next day, the Major was getting what he wanted. Tonight, they would probably order a pizza with all the fixings and then they would wake up early tomorrow to drive his dad back to the base and send him off. Even though he didn't relish getting shot, Jasper was still glad he had gotten two weeks to spend with his father. Odds were he probably wouldn't see his father until Christmas or afterward.

"You okay, bud? You've barely touched your onion rings," Randall pointed out. Jasper picked one up to eat, knowing his father could read him all too well.

"Yeah, just stuff in the group today," Jasper sighed.

"What happened?" Mary asked her son.

"We just talked… about that day…" Jasper admitted. "I think a lot of people are having a hard time accepting that it actually happened, you know? That it wasn't a dream or something…"

"Harsh realities can be hard to face," Randall nodded. "Sometimes our brain tries to protect us from stuff it thinks are harmful. Other times, we just don't want to accept the reality we are dealt."

"I'm worried this isn't going to help, that it's just going to reopen old wounds and make things worse," Jasper sighed.

"It will get better," Mary reassured him. "You'll see…"

"I hope so," Jasper sighed.

"Dealing with this situation is a lot like dealing with grief," Randall said. "The first step to dealing with any kind of loss is accepting that it has happened. Sometimes like this is so horrible people honestly don't want to believe it is true."

"Yeah," Jasper agreed. There was a silence at the table for a minute. "I'm glad you got to come see us Dad. I mean… I'm not happy why it happened, but I'm glad you get to be here for now."

"I'm glad to be here, son," Randall smiled.

* * *

_1:05 p.m. – Olympic Resort Bed and Breakfast_

Two weeks on, Emmett was glad to see the media circus had moved on from Forks and people were now letting the small town get back to healing itself without the intervention of the outside world. The last journalist from out of the area had checked out around noon that day, and all of the new bookings were various hikers and outdoorsy types who were coming to enjoy the national park for the summer season. Though he had been annoyed in the past by pretentious hikers, Emmett decided he much preferred them to the inn's recent clientele. His parents seemed to agree, though they would never admit to despising any customer within the walls of the bed and breakfast itself.

But the fact that the media was no longer paying attention didn't mean the small town politics in Forks had ended. Emmett had Mike Newton's ash scattering ceremony to attend the next evening. Since Mike's body was too badly wounded and his mother was so numb from the whole experience she didn't feel up to holding a wake and a funeral, Emmett and a few of Mike's surviving friends and football teammates had been invited down to First Beach to scatter Mike's ashes in the area he and his family used to picnic during his childhood. Mike had been an okay guy, but once he had fallen under the influence of Larry and Royce, he had just gotten worse and worse. Emmett remembered fondly joking around with Mike during lunch to see who could squirt milk on their nose or seeing who could hang upside down on the monkey bars the longest without getting sick.

However, Mike had this ambition to be popular and a bit of an inferiority complex about himself. He could never bulk up as much as other guys on the team and his voice had changed later and much more noticeably than other guys. Mike also desperately wanted to be noticed by girls to make him feel important. Emmett, on the other hand, had smooth sailing for puberty and was more focused on his game and his grades than girls. Well, except for one girl in particular. For whatever reason, Mike had fallen under Royce and Larry's spell while Emmett remained content with his old friends like Tyler and Eric. Mike had still hung out with Emmett, but whenever Tyler and Eric entered into the equation Mike would scrunch up his nose like he had just taken a whiff of something awful. Mike He didn't like it when Emmett reminded him he had once been good friends with Eric and Tyler too.

Emmett never really understood why a lot of the guys on the team felt that their jerseys made them invincible or the most socially powerful guys in school. Guys like Mike, Larry and Royce wanted on the team to be popular, to be looked up to and so girls would like them. Emmett honestly just knew a football scholarship was his best chance at getting a good college education. His grades were passable but not outstanding and he didn't want his parents to struggle to pay for his schooling in addition to maintaining their business. Football was Emmett's ticket out of Forks, and he honestly didn't care if he sat on the bench all four years in college so long as his education was paid for. Grimly, Emmett thought his odds were much better since Mike was his only really scholarship competition from Forks High.

In addition to Mike's coming wake, Emmett was also made aware of a startling Facebook trend. He hadn't logged on in a while to tell the truth. When he had gotten home from the hospital he had let everyone know he was doing well and checked out all of the people wishing him a speedy recovery. He had also sent a friend request to Edward Cullen and another to Jasper Whitlock. Edward's had been received. Jasper's had not, though Emmett wasn't alarmed. In fact, there was no sign Jasper had been on Facebook in two months or so. It was when Emmett logged on to Facebook after this Thursday's counseling session that he realized something was amiss. His friend count was down and he knew Larry, Mike and Royce's Facebook pages had been left up by their families so mourning friends could leave messages.

Emmett quickly realized he had been defriended by Doug. Logan and Dean. It baffled him at first that Doug would take his anger over that first session out in such a way, and he assumed Logan and Dean had just gone along with their alpha male. Doug – being not too bright and hoping that college hotties would find his page and then send him private messages – did not have any privacy settings on his account. When Emmett clicked on Doug's name, he was surprised to find a conversation thread about himself from the day Doug had been kicked out of therapy.

**Doug The Meckster: **Can't believe I got kicked out of that lame ass therapy session because Fagsper Whitcock got all moody about his boyfriend shooting himself. And why the fuck is McCarty standing up for that tard?

**Dean Lucas: **Don't know dude. Maybe they gave him some meds that fucked up his head in the hospital.

**Doug the Meckster: **I know. It's like that ass fucker Hunter shooting Larry and Royce didn't mean anything to him.

**Logan Wilson: **True dat. McCarty needs to check himself before he wrecks himself hanging out with those losers.

**Doug the Meckster: **Or becomes Whitcock's new boyfriend.

**Dean Lucas: **LOL

Emmett wasn't exactly sure what to do. He knew the guys were just blowing off steam, but he also knew it was that sort of behavior that had put his entire school in this position in the first place. Just in case, Emmett printed off a copy of the Facebook conversation and filed it away. He wasn't sure if he would ever need it, but for some reason he felt like it would be a good idea to have a record of what these guys were saying. He didn't want to be a tattletale, but in light of recent events Emmett felt his coach might want to know about it too.

* * *

_2:35 p.m. – Forks Community Hospital_

Rose was midway through the most recent chapter in _The Age of Innocence_ when Bella and Alice made their way through the hospital door and into Mrs. Cope's room. In addition to the giant card they had everyone sign; the two of them appeared with half a dozen "Get Well" balloons and a fluffy toy cat holding a heart that said "Feel Better." The balloons and stuffed kitten not only added to the hominess of the room provided through Emmett's bouquet of sunflowers but also fit in exactly with Mrs. Cope. The card was set up on her bedside table and Rose hoped it was the first thing Mrs. Cope would see when she woke up.

"It's kind of drab in here," Alice noticed, as she set up the balloons.

"It's a hospital room," Rose shrugged. "They make them sort of comfortable, but they aren't really personalized or anything. Kind of like a hotel room."

"Well, those sunflowers do spruce the place up a bit," Alice sighed. "Maybe we can get some other things to make this room more… homey…"

"That'd be nice," Rose said thoughtfully. "The balloons and stuff are a nice touch, though. I think she'll really appreciate it when she wakes up."

"Do the doctors know anything new?" Bella asked hopefully.

"No," Rose sighed. "Nothing has really changed. They haven't found any family. It's everything is just… stuck…"

"Who's been taking care of her house?" Bella asked curiously. Rose balked, her mouth opening up.

"I don't think…anyone's thought of that…" Rose began.

"Oh no," Alice said. "She lives next door to the Whitlock's. Jasper and his mom have been feeding the cats and Jasper mowed her lawn last weekend. Well, he always does. She pays him for it and to do odd jobs around the house."

"How do you know that?" Bella asked quizzically.

"Jasper mows without his shirt on," Alice blushed.

"You can see his house from yours?" Bella said, surprised.

"With binoculars," Alice muttered. Rose and Bella laughed, though Alice was thoroughly embarrassed.

"Well, I'm sure she'll appreciate someone taking care of her place and her pets," Rose nodded. "I didn't know the Whitlock's were doing all that."

"They're pretty quiet about stuff they do," Alice shrugged. "I don't think they're looking for anyone to pat them on the back or anything."

"Maybe you could see if Jasper could bring in a picture of Ms. Cope's cats," Rose suggested. "That might cheer up her room a bit."

"Sure thing," Alice grinned.

"Because Alice needs an excuse to see Jasper Whitlock," Bella rolled her eyes.

* * *

_3:24 p.m. -Whitlock Residence_

Though Jasper wasn't exactly thrilled that the ringing of the doorbell had interrupted his last few hours of quality time with his dad, he wasn't exactly unhappy with seeing Alice Brandon at the door to his house, waiting on him. Sure, he was pretty much still in mourning over Jimmy and dealing with all of the emotional crap going on with surviving the shooting, but he honestly felt like he needed to be more on his game around Alice. After all, she had presented him with so many opportunities to show his interest. She had stopped him from bleeding to death and then there were the hospital visits, the handholding in the back of his dad's car on the day of Jimmy's funeral and the long, secluded walk down to the creek. It seemed a little pathetic to him that his best friend was a murderer and all he could think about was the waifish girl from art class.

"Hey… Alice… is everything okay?" Jasper asked worriedly.

"Oh, yeah, it's fine," Alice assured him. "Bella and I went to visit Mrs. Cope today and I know that you and your mom have been taking care of things for her while she's in the hospital…"

"Yeah… it's neighborly…" Jasper nodded. "I mean, she gets our newspapers and stuff when we're on vacation and all…"

"And you're feeding her cats and stuff," Alice smiled.

"Well… Mom has taken care of that," Jasper said. "Mittens and I get along fine, but Snowflake is on the heftier side and I thought cutting down on her normal diet might be better for her. She didn't exactly agree with me, and now she isn't… very welcoming when I'm around…"

"Cats are like that," Alice agreed. "And speaking of the cats, Bella and Rose and I got to talking and we really thought it might be nice to make Ms. Cope's room more… homey, I guess. You know maybe give her some positive vibes to help her recover. And since she loves her cats so much, we all thought maybe we could bring a picture of them into her room or something like that. I suppose they would probably frown on bringing the cats themselves in."

"Yeah," Jasper said. "That sounds like a good idea."

"So, we were wondering if you might help us get a picture from Ms. Cope's place, you know?" Alice said. "I'm sure she'll bring it back home with her when she gets better, but for now I think it might be nice for her to have a little reminder of home."

"Sure," Jasper nodded. "I'll talk with my mom about it, but I'm sure we could bring that stuff by the hospital sometime tomorrow or whatever…"

"Cool," Alice grinned. "Bella and I were thinking about heading over to the hospital at about two on Saturday. After all, it's not fair that Rose has to sit and talk with her all the time. Rose believes… and she said the doctors believe too… that Ms. Cope still might be able to hear us,, so I think it would be nice just to talk with her some more… let her know what's going on."

"Uh-huh," Jasper said.

"I heard your dad is leaving tomorrow," Alice said. "I'm sorry he has to go back too soon."

"It's alright," Jasper nodded. "I mean, you never really get used to it, but it's his job. And what he's doing is important. I'm going to miss him, but I know his unit needs him over there."

"Well, if you need to talk, let me know," Alice grinned. "I'll see you later!"

As Alice bounded off the porch and down the front steps, Jasper wondered how many more opportunities handed to him on a silver platter he could blow. For the thousandth time in the past few weeks, Jasper desperately wished he could talk with his best friend.

* * *

**End Note:**

_Nearly 43 percent of children have been bullied online at least once. One in three teenagers has received a threat online. It is believed 90 percent of these children will never report to a parent or trusted adult they have been bullied online._

_About 75 percent of middle school students admit to have visited a website bashing another classmate._

_Four out of 10 middle school students report their password has been stolen or changed by a bully who locked them out of their own online account and sent communications posing as them. _

_Psychologists say the psychological and emotional impact of cyber bullying may actually be worse than real-life bullying scenarios. As one psychologist put it: "School gets out at 3 p.m., but the Internet is available all the time."_


	17. Chapter 17

**Thanks to dowlingnana**_  
_

* * *

_Rudeness is a weak imitation of strength._

_- Eric Hoffer, American writer and sociologist_

* * *

_Saturday, April 26, 2008_

_2:06 p.m. – Forks Community Hospital_

It had been hard in the hours after his father's departure. Peter had skipped classes to come join the family as they saw Major Whitlock off. Jasper's mother had been depressed in the hours following, retiring to her bedroom with some cookies to mope about her husband leaving. Jasper did his best to be nice to his mother as he knew the separation weighed on her. The next morning, however, Mary Whitlock was back to her normal self and excited to help Jasper and his friends make things a little better for Ms. Cope.

In addition to helping him dig up several pictures of her cats for the hospital room, Mary Whitlock procured one of Shelley Cope's favorite blankets to cover her up in the hospital as well as a robe, fuzzy slippers and socks she felt Ms. Cope could use when she was feeling better but not quite ready for release. Since she had to do the weekly cleaning of her own house with the added neighborly cleaning of Ms. Cope's, Mary dispatched her son with all of the goods in the family car to the hospital at the appointed time.

Jasper was a little embarrassed to be walking down the hall with a girly robe peeking out of the big, flower-patterned bag his mother had handed him. He was slightly relieved to find the hospital was pretty much empty, though he was still nervous about walking into Ms. Cope's room with the frilly bag, especially if Alice was going to be there. He hoped the fact that he was trying to help would overshadow the image of him carrying around so many girly things. As he approached Ms. Cope's hospital room, Jasper could hear the laughter of Rose, Alice and Bella as they watched something on the television. He stepped in to the room to find Ms. Cope still in her comatose state, but that the three girls had managed to put on a quilting show on PBS that Ms. Cope probably would have enjoyed.

"Hi Jasper!" Alice said excitedly. She eyed the floral bag at his side. "What did you bring?"

"Uh, we got the pictures," he said nervously, setting the bag down, "and my mom thought Ms. Cope might want some things from her home to make her more comfortable." He handed the pictures to Alice who went straight to work setting them up by the sunflowers on Ms. Cope's bedside table.

"What's this?" Rose asked, lifting the robe out of the bag.

"We packed her robe and slippers… for when she gets better," Jasper tried to explain. Bella lifted the blanket out of the bag. "And the blanket so she'd stay warm… and have something from home, you know?"

"I think it makes this place look much better," Alice grinned as Bella and Rose worked to lay the blankets over Ms. Cope's bed.

"Anything new?" Jasper asked.

"No," Rose said sadly, "but it's great that she's going to have some of the comforts of home now."

"Thanks so much for bringing all this by, Jasper," Alice grinned at him.

"Sure," Jasper blushed. "I mean, she's our neighbor and all… if you think she needs anything else, let me know…"

"Alice said your family has been taking care of her place?" Rose nodded.

"Well, just Mom and me," Jasper shrugged. "Peter's at school and Dad… he's back overseas now."

"I'm sure that's tough," Rose nodded.

"Yeah," Jasper admitted. "But we've been managing for seven years now with Dad coming back and forth on different tours." He looked around at the three young women as well as Ms. Cope's lifeless body and felt he had to get out of the room. "Anyway… I've got to help my mom out with some stuff… so I guess I'll see you all Monday?"

"Sure," Rose nodded.

"Goodbye Jasper," Bella smiled.

"I'll walk out with you," Alice popped up excitedly. Embarrassedly, Jasper picked up the now empty floral bag and walked with Alice out of the hospital room.

"So… you and Bella coming around to see Ms. Cope a lot" Jasper asked curiously.

"We just started recently after bringing her the card," Alice admitted. "Rose has been here practically every day, and it's not fair that she's feeling like the only one who cares. I mean, Ms. Cope has been great to all of us. She really deserves more people who care. Thanks for bringing all the stuff, by the way. It means a world of difference, especially to Rose."

"Rose is really worried, isn't she?" Jasper asked.

"Yes," Alice sighed. "I think Rose knows what it's like to feel really alone, and she doesn't want to let someone else feel that way. All the rumors really got to her… she not only is afraid that everyone thinks she's this big slut because Royce spread all those lies, but she's also afraid to get close to anyone who acts like they want to be her friend because she's been burned in the past. Bella and I have gotten her to open up a little more, but she always tries to reroute the conversation."

"She doesn't need to worry about people like you and Bella," Jasper shrugged. "Rose probably needs good friends. She had it rough."

"How do you know that?" Alice asked curiously.

"Emmett," Jasper admitted. "I think he has a crush on her or something." He paused for a moment. "Although, he said if I told anyone he'd call me a liar to my face."

"Interesting," Alice nodded. "But I'm sure I didn't hear it from you."

"Thanks," Jasper smiled in spite of himself as they reached the front door of the hospital. "Well, I guess I'll see you around?"

"Sure thing," Alice said. "I'll look for you on Monday."

"Okay," Jasper grinned. "And I guess I'll see you at the session afterward?"

"Of course," Alice nodded, "Wouldn't miss it."

* * *

_3:30 p.m. – Forks Grocery_

One of the bad things about Forks being such a small town was that the place only had one, small independent grocery store. Everyone from the town and many surrounding communities had to shop there unless they wanted to drive all the way to the Albertson's in Port Angeles. And by the time you made the hour drive back from Port Angeles the milk was warm, ice cream had melted and fish had ruined the smell of your car. There was also a small grocery section in the big general store on the Quileute reservation, though mostly the Quileute's opted to keep on the tribal tradition of trading goods and services. Sure, there were gas stations with a small selection of groceries like milk, spray cheese, moldy crackers and energy bars for hikers smattered around the town and on the highways, but the only real, full-service store was the one in Forks.

It was for this reason Edward hated grocery shopping. He always ended up going along with his mother because he was a good son and, though he would never admit it out loud, a bit of a mama's boy. His mother often needed help packing up the groceries and getting things off the top shelves. He wouldn't be useful that week with the heavier items due to his broken arm, but he would help as much as he could. Edward hated the grocery store because everyone in Forks shopped there, including his many bullies. If he was there with his mother, they would be polite to Esme then tease Edward the following day about being a mama's boy. If he was alone on an errand for his parents, they would cut to the chase and push him around the store. The store manager would intervene, but usually because he didn't want any more of his produce broken.

"Oh, Edward, sweetie," Esme said, looking up from her grocery list and interrupting her son's thoughts, "I completely forgot to get spaghetti noodles! Do you think you could go back and fetch them for me?"

"Sure thing," Edward nodded.

Of course, Edward hadn't counted on the wide variety of noodles available in the tiny Forks grocery store. Once he narrowed it down to the straight spaghetti noodles, he had to remember which brand his mother bought. He knew if he didn't return to her with the low-sodium, enriched variety he would probably be sent back until he could find it. One of the bad things about being the son of a doctor and a health nut was how particular his parents were about their food. Not much junk food made it into the Cullen house and for years Esme had packed raisins as Edward's dessert in his school lunches, claiming they were "nature's candy."

As he reached for the right box, he felt a tap on his shoulder and, completely spooked, nearly sideswiped the shelf and sent all of the noodles spilling all over the floor. He turned around in a bit of a panic before remembering that all of his usual bullies were either in the cemetery or at Mike Newton's ash scattering ceremony down in La Push. His breathing regulated though his heart was still racing when he found the smiling face of Bella Swan standing before him. Letting out a sigh of relief, he finally managed a smile back.

"I didn't mean to startle you," Bella admitted.

"Lost in my own thoughts," Edward shrugged. "It happens." He looked down at Bella's grocery basket, which contained olive oil, three types of cheeses and some tomato sauce: "Italian night at your house?"

"Mom and I decided on lasagna only to find we didn't have anything to make it with," Bella shrugged, "You?"

"We're out of spaghetti," Edward said, suddenly remembering his task, "and mom forgot to get it when we were on this aisle…"

"I've got to get some bread from the bakery and coffee," Bella sighed. "Dad's been working a lot more hours, so he's been consuming a lot more coffee."

"I think if they would let my dad hook up a coffee IV to himself he would," Edward admitted.

"Well, I'm sure your mom is waiting on you," Bella blushed. "I'll see you around?"

"Sure," Edward grinned. He tried not to skip all the way back to where his mother was trying to find the right chicken stock she had a soup for. Though Edward didn't mention anything to his mother, Esme was certain what had caused her son's good mood when she spied Bella Swan at the self-checkout.

* * *

_7:04 p.m. – Olympic Resort Bed and Breakfast_

Emmett had been hoping to get the okay from his doctor to start hitting the gym again, but instead he was annoyed to find he wasn't supposed to be lifting weights or overexerting his arm for at least another week due to his recovering gunshot wound. It was the second setback Emmett had felt in as many days. The evening before, he had gone with his parents to watch as Mike Newton's parents scattered their son's ashes out to sea. He had stood with Coach Pettry, the Forks High football coach, and the coach's wife. He had been surprised to find many of his teammates didn't really want to talk to him or hang around with him.

Of course, the big gossip of the evening was the fact that neither Larry nor Royce's parents had shown up to the funeral when they were all supposedly best buds with Mike. It didn't surprise Emmett as much as he felt it should have. He had always felt a sneaking suspicious that Mike was more of a hanger-on than Larry and Royce led him to believe.

Emmett also noticed that unlike Royce and Larry's funerals – which had been jam-packed with every media outlet that side of the Continental Divide – there was a noticeable media absence at Mike's funeral. Not even a reporter from the _Forks Daily New s_could be scrounged up for the event, cementing Emmett's belief that everyone had moved on now that the media circus had a fresher story to focus on. He wondered how long it would be until the 24-hour news cycle picked up on the next shooting in a small town, only to be distracted by more important matters, like which celebrity had been arrested on drug charges this week.

There was only one person Emmett noticed that wasn't done squawking about what had happened. Eleanor Katz was there in all her Tammy Faye Baker-caked on glory so she could circulate a petition amongst the mourners for the firing of Harold Greene and the removal of the school board. She was also talking to anyone who was interested about how she was interested in starting a class-action civil suit against the school board, Greene, and the Forks Police Department for their "failure to respond" in the incident. Emmett knew Principal Greene and the rest of the school board left much to be desired, but he knew for a fact Chief Swan and his officers had worked their assess off that day.

Chief Swan himself was here at the funeral, offering what condolences he could to Mike's family. Even more so, Bella had been one of James' targets. If Chief Swan had known James was capable of this and that is own daughter was in danger, Emmett couldn't understand why he wouldn't try to do something. Then again, logic and reason had left Forks pretty much around the same time Jimmy had entered the school hallway with an arsenal of weapons in his backpack.

"How's the arm doing?" Coach asked Emmett, interrupting his thoughts.

"Pretty good," Emmett nodded. "I'm really hoping the docs will tell me I can start working out with it again. I want to be at summer conditioning something fierce."

"I'm sure you'll do it," Coach agreed. "You keep healthy though, you got me?"

"Hey, NFL guys get shot all the time and are back on the field," Emmett shrugged. Coach shook his head with a smile.

"Well, let's not make it a habit, okay?" Coach said.

"Sure thing," Emmett nodded. Coach was quiet for a minute.

"I heard Meckler got in trouble during those group therapy sessions," he mentioned.

"He got kicked out," Emmett nodded. "Jasper… he was my roomie in the hospital. Doug said some stuff to him… it wasn't alright, you know?"

"I'm going to have a long talk with the team when we get back," Coach mentioned. "I would say I'm disappointed in a lot of you boys for not coming to me when you knew Larry, Royce and Mike were acting like they were, but it wouldn't be fair. I guess I'm most disappointed that I didn't see it myself. I always expect my teams to conduct themselves with sportsmanlike conduct on and off the field. I suppose we're all guilty of it. It's the culture in these small towns, I guess. So much pressure is put on our young men and they sometimes have to let off their steam in less than appropriate ways."

"I should have told someone," Emmett admitted. "It's my biggest regret. I think it's a big one for all of us."

"Well, you get home and rest," Coach told Emmett. "I want to talk with Mike's parents and Chief Swan. And don't you go telling me your doc gave you the go-ahead to play when he didn't. I've got ins at all the clinics in town and I'll find out if you're supposed to be benched."

"Sure thing, Coach," Emmett laughed.

Though his coach's words had given Emmett some comfort, the words on his computer screen later that afternoon had not. He had logged on to Facebook for the distraction. A few rounds of mindless games seemed to be the ticket for getting his mind off of Mike. On a whim, he sent a friend request to Rosalie Hale and grinned when he saw requests had been returned from Jasper and Edward. He had been friends with Alice and Bella before the whole incident at school, but their witty repartees back and forth on each other's pages helped lighten his day. What didn't lighten his day was when he caught another one of Doug's feeds.

**Doug the Meckster: **Can anyone tell me what a traitor like McCarty was doing at Mike's funeral? Just plain wrong! How can the guy be all chummy with emos one minute and then act like he's part of the team the next?

**Dean Lucas: **I don't know… he and Mike were pretty close in middle school.

**Doug the Meckster: **Just my point. McCarty's changed. Of course, he was a fat ass then and he's a fat ass now.

**Logan Wilson: **He was just there to kiss coach's ass.

**Steve Wells: **Tell me about it.

**Doug the Meckster: **I bet he told coach about Whitcock's melt down at that shit ass therapy thing. Coach is coming by my house to talk with my 'rents about my "behavior."

**Doug the Meckster: **I'm going to fucking pound McCarty's ass in if I get kicked off the team.  
**  
Logan Wilson: **Too bad Jimmy didn't finish him off. I'd certainly like to get off second-string.

**Steve Wells: **Knowing coach, Emmett's ass kissing will probably get him appointed captain.

Emmett honestly wanted to punch a hole through his computer screen. He didn't even know why he kept Doug as his friend after all of this. Then again, Doug knew they were Facebook friends; either he was completely stupid in posting all of this without realizing it, or he was trying to get Emmett mad on purpose. Either outcome didn't make Emmett too happy. And then there was Steve Wells, the new player in this game. Emmett and Steve had been pretty good buds by Emmett's standards. Steve was a senior, though, and his sister Samantha had been one of those gunned down in the crosshairs of Jimmy's revenge. Emmett understood why Steve might be angry at anyone who seemed to side with Jimmy or what Jimmy had done. However, he didn't think it was fair for Steve to be taking his own anger out on others.

He printed out the copy of the postings and then placed them with the previous one. He knew he could take Doug if need be, but at the same time he didn't like what his teammates were saying about him. Maybe Coach was right. Maybe it was the whole culture of Forks that had to change.

* * *

**End Note:**

_An estimated 13 percent of kids between age 12 and 17 said they had an experience on a social network such as Facebook that made them afraid to go to school the following day. This rate was 20 percent in students between 12 and 14. _

_Students who spend more than three hours per day online are 110 percent (yes, 110) more likely to be victims of cyber bulling. Students who belong to social networking sites are more likely to be bullied than students who don't. _

_Cyber bullying can range from posting gossip to damage a person's reputation, deliberately excluding someone from events or an online group, breaking into an account and impersonating a victim, repeatedly posting or sending harassing messages, cyber stalking, flaming, and cyber threats. Bullies also attempt to "out" others or trick their victim into revealing personal information which they can then exploit. _

_While there are state cyberbullying laws in 49 states, Montana remains the sole state without a state cyberbullying law. Though there are federal laws that deal with bullying and other forms of harassment, there has not yet been a federal cyberbullying law passed, partially due to the legal complexities of the Internet. To learn more about cyberbullying laws and statues in your state, I have a link on my profile._


	18. Chapter 18

_I had some debate on whether or not to post today. With the nature of this story and in light of the incident on Friday in Newtown, Conn. I am sure many of you are with me in thinking about and praying for the families and community members who found their lives forever altered. Today, 20 sets of parents will have to deal with the fact that the Christmas presents they have under their tree will never be shooting at Sandy Hooks Elementary School is an unfortunate incident that is becoming all too frequent. In addition to the families and victims, I ask that your thoughts also be with the first responders who reported to this incident. A police officer I know who had responded to a similar in California and I talked about this with me Friday. His words are much better than anything I could write._

"_You try to prepare as best you can for this, but what can you do to prepare for something like this?" he told me. "Nothing prepares an officer for seeing the body of a small child. We cry as much as anyone else. I can't imagine what those officers, nurses and firemen are going through right now."_

_These first responders were the first to see this incident, to deal with the carnage, to have these children on their operating tables, in their arms and be by their sides. Volunteer firemen, people who contribute their time to keep their community safe, were among the first on this scene. They have seen something the rest of us can only imagine in our nightmares and will have to live with those images for the rest of their lives. They had to inform the parents that their child will not be coming home for Christmas. They are often forgotten following these incidents. _

_I also hope those of you who have children talk with them about this incident, even if they are young. You may think elementary school children are too young to learn about school shootings, but children their age were just the victims of one. Though school administrators do not disclose their safety procedures and scenario plans for these incidents in order to help protect students, it is important for parents, students, and school staff to dialogue about these incidents so everyone is prepared._

* * *

_It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength. - Maya Angelou_

* * *

_Monday, April 28, 2008_

_12:01 p.m. – Quileute Community Tribal School_

The students of Forks High School were shocked when they arrived at the Quileute Tribal School Monday morning. The school had originally been built in the 1920s and seen very few renovations since. Of course, the school was funded under the Bureau of Indian Affairs and since it was a government-funded reservation school it received the least amount of money possible. The math textbooks, Edward learned, had been given to the school some forty years before. Jasper was horrified to see the maps in the history classroom dated back to the 1960s and still depicted Soviet bloc countries, but he was relieved to find the history books were new. However, he soon learned the history textbooks were so few and far between that two sometimes even three students had to share one text.

Alice had been devastated to learn that the only art class available was Intro to Art I and then furious when she learned the art programs had been canceled due to school wide budget cuts. Apparently, so many of the students were below poverty and on free-and-reduced lunch that the Indian Affairs people found the school lunch program was hemorrhaging money. They fixed the problem by eliminating all but a few basic arts classes so the money could be rerouted to the cafeteria. It irked Alice to no end that the government had put the school in such a position they had to choose between feeding their students and art. In the end, however, that free lunch and breakfast was sometimes the only meal many Quileute students received.

Bella, too, was upset by the dilapidated building, lack of supplies and instructors from Teach for America who barely stayed a year, if that. She was especially upset since Jacob, her father's best friend's son, had been going to school in these conditions all his life. However, there was one thing the Tribal School had Bella noticed was completely absent at Forks High. There was a sense of community there and respect for each other. The Quileute students were basically all interrelated somehow, but they behaved not only like family but like the best of friends. There didn't appear to be any bullying at this school, just familial teasing. The school was pretty small and all the students had been together forever, and it seemed on the surface like everyone got along just fine.

It was the lunch period itself that really showed the true colors of the Quileute students. Nerdy kids sat with jocks. Girls who at Forks would have fallen into the popular clique chose to eat with the band geeks. Of course, the burnouts had their own little table at the back of the room, but overall it seemed that the Quileute kids still remained friends with the same people since kindergarten and if they weren't sitting with their friends they were at least sitting with their plethora of siblings and cousins. Bella herself wasn't sure where to sit until she was waved over by Jacob Black and his friends. Jacob was the youngest child and only son of her father's best friend Billy. Charlie and Billy had been friends growing up and had gotten closer through their often intertwining jobs – Charlie as police chief and Billy as head of the tribal council.

With Jacob was a smattering of friends and cousins Bella knew in passing. She could identify Quil, Embry and Leah off the top of her head. All four of them were freshmen and the fact that Jacob's hand was currently intertwined with Leah's under the table let Bella know Jake had finally gotten off his ass and asked her out. During the past summer, the two often found themselves out on fishing trips with their fathers and Jake had spent every trip complaining about how Leah would never notice him because she had a huge crush on Sam, a senior and quarterback of the school football team. Apparently, Bella's advice over the summer had worked if their flirty glances and secret smiles were any indication.

"So, new student," Jacob teased Bella "having a good first day of school?"

"It's different…" Bella admitted.

"Yeah, well, when the Indian Affairs bureaucrats decide between educating the tribe's kids and giving themselves bonuses, it's kind of easy to figure out which wins," Leah huffed. A plop of a metallic lunch box signaled to Bella that Alice had just sat down beside her.

"Hey Alice," Jake said to her.

"Hi, Jake. I see you still haven't gotten that growth hormone under control," Alice teased in reference to his accelerating height.

"I see you haven't figured out how yours works," Jake teased back. Next thing they knew, Emmett had plopped down next to Quil with two trays of food.

"Dude, this chili… I need the recipe," Emmett announced.

"Where's Tyler and Eric?" Alice asked. "Aren't they joined at your hip?"

"They got the second lunch," Emmett grimaced. "Cullen and Whitlock should be here in a bit, though." Bella and Alice both blushed, causing Jake's eyebrows to rise.

"She one of your friends too?" Leah asked Alice and Bella, pointing to Rose who was looking very nervous about where to sit. There were a few guys cat calling her. Apparently, the douchebags of Forks and the Quileute School had combined together at one table. "Looks a little lost…"

"Rose!" Alice bellowed out over the crowd.

"Jeez, she's got surround sound," Quil coughed out as Jasper and Edward squeezed their way on the table. Jasper took the seat beside Alice leaving a grumbly Edward to take the vacant one between Quil and Embry. Emmett grinned at Edward in thanks since his seating choice meant Rose would have to take the only vacant seat – between Emmett and Embry. Rose obliged and took the remaining seat, smiling softly across the table at Alice as she sat down.

"So… introductions," Jake suggested.

"This is Jacob Black… his dad and mine have been best buds since they were in diapers," Bella said. "Quil and Embry are Jake's friends…"

"And this is my girlfriend Leah," Jake announced, squeezing her close. "And you're Emmett McCarty?"

"The football jersey precedes me," Emmett smirked.

"This is Alice, Edward, Rose and Jasper," Bella introduced.

"So… your name is Quilt?" Edward asked nervously.

"Quil," he shook his head. "It's tribal."

"Is Embry tribal too?" Edward asked.

"Nah," Embry said. "My mom just smoked a lot of grass when she was young."

"I bet she smoked a lot when she was pregnant with you, too," Quil teased.

"I'm guessing Edward isn't a tribal name?" Jake teased.

"No," Edward admitted. "But it is a family name. Apparently, if they don't name a Cullen Edward in some way every few decades the world would spontaneously combust or something."

"Emmett's not either, is it?" Jake said sensing Edward wanted the attention deflected from himself.

"Nope," Emmett said. "Actually, it was the result of my parents scrambling at the last second. They wanted my gender to be a surprise, but mom thought I was a girl, so she wanted to name me Emma. And let's just say Emma isn't the name you want to give to your ten-and-a-half pound baby boy."

"To be fair, I don't think anyone would tease a big guy like you if you had a girl's name," Embry pointed out.

"True that," Emmett agreed.

* * *

_4 p.m. – Forks Community Center_

The first day at the Quileute School had been trying, but it was the therapy session scheduled for that afternoon would go on no matter how much some members of the group wished they could go home. Emmett tried not to pay too much attention to Dean and Logan laughing and shoving each other back and forth playfully. However, Emmett was quickly distracted by Jasper Whitlock plopping into the seat next to him with a groan.

"What's up?" Emmett asked.

"Just tired," Jasper shrugged. "My car's making this noise and my mom wants me to take it in. It needs an oil change anyway."

"Sucks," Emmett nodded.

"I'm hoping it won't come to that," Jasper sighed, "but without my dad here, she'll take it in even if I don't want her to. If it were my brother's car, she wouldn't be so upset about it but… Let's just say it sucks being the baby of the family."

"It sucks being an only child, too," Emmett pointed out. "At least your brother provides a distraction. If I broke a vase as a kid, there wasn't anyone to blame it on."

"It doesn't help if you still have the baseball bat in your hand," Edward agreed.

"Dude, you too?" Emmett laughed.

"My little league coach told me to work on my swing, it was raining, and mom told me I couldn't go outside," Edward said. "Eight-year-olds don't have the best logic."

"Oh," Emmett blushed. "I was fifteen."

"You broke your mother's vase last year and tried to blame it on someone?" Rose piped up from her seat next to Emmett with a laugh.

"It was an accident," Emmett said. "I'm not always the best when it comes to spatial awareness."

"Alright, everyone," Tia smiled, coming into the room. "It's good to see you already put your journals on the table. I've really been enjoying reading them and, if any of you care to share them, you can always volunteer." She looked around and sighed when, yet again, no one raised their hand to volunteer. "Well, all right. Last time, we all shared our personal experiences. Some of you dealt with a lot more intense experiences than others. Today, I want to pose a question to all of you and get your answers. Please, do not interrupt anyone while they are giving their response. We will have time for discussion, but please keep it polite and I want you to consider everyone else's feelings before responding. I know there is a lot of emotion surrounding this, but it is important we have a healthy dialogue." When everyone nodded in agreement, Tia continued. "My question is what about this incident is the hardest for you to believe? Why do you feel it is hard to reconcile this shooting with your own reality? Angela, I want to start with you."

It was obvious the normally shy, quiet Angela did not want to be picked first. She loathed being the center of attention, and the gaze of her classmates made her blush. She wasn't expecting the comforting touch of Ben Cheney's hand on her arm, and when she looked up to face him, he seemed just as surprised as she did that he had initiated the gesture. With a slight smile at Ben, Angela took in a deep breath and answered the question.

"That it happened here in Forks," Angela said. "We're such a small town. I mean, I know this thing can happen anywhere… that it has happened in small towns before… but you never imagine it will happen where you are, you know?"

"Alright," Tia nodded. "Ben? What about you?"

"Kind of the same thing," Ben said. "Forks have hunting accidents and logging accidents and car crashes, but I mean we hardly ever have a murder case around here, let alone a school shooting. It's bizarre."

"Whitney?" Tia asked.

"I don't… Well, I've been thinking about it, and I wonder why now, you know?" Whitney said. "He would have graduated in like three weeks. Could he really not hang on that long? I mean, I know his life wasn't perfect, but in three weeks he would have at least graduated high school and he wouldn't have had to see everyone every day… I just don't know why he couldn't have waited three weeks until school was out, until he didn't have to see them again." Jasper tensed, but a knowing look from Tia made him swallow whatever he was thinking.

"Alec?" Tia asked.

"I wonder why now," Alec admitted, "but not like she did. I wonder why it didn't happen sooner. It was just building, you know? I'm surprised that someone – not just Jimmy but _anyone_ who went to Forks High – and had to put up with all that shit put up with it for so long. Sometimes I would just walk into school and wonder if today was the day that someone was going to completely lose it and go ape shit on those guys, you know? Everyone acts like they weren't expecting it, but it's a wonder it didn't happen sooner. That someone didn't snap sooner."

"Alright," Tia nodded. "Bella?"

"I guess just the whole thing is hard to come to terms with," Bella admitted. "But I think the hardest thing to believe is that it couldn't have been prevented. I just… if someone had listened… if someone had done something… I know that's what's bugging my dad, you know? He really wishes he could go back in time and make someone listen to Jimmy… someone who had the authority to help makes things better… I do, too. I wish the principal or the school board or someone had taken Jimmy seriously… hadn't dismissed it as a football prank or boys being boys."

"Dean?" Tia asked.

"It's hard to believe my friends are gone," Dean admitted. "I can't… it's just so weird. Today, I didn't see them in the hallways. I was looking for their cars, you know? For a split second, I wondered if Larry and Royce and 'them' were going to show up but then they didn't and I realized they weren't going to. That I'm never really going to see them again…"

"Yeah," Logan agreed. "People I was in class with every day since practically kindergarten… they're gone. I'm never going to hang out with them again. We aren't going to grow old and then come back and joke around at our twenty-year reunion or anything… it's just… it's like expecting a ghost you know you're never going to see."

"Jasper?" Tia asked.

"I guess the hardest thing…" Jasper said, taking in a deep breath. "The hardest thing is realizing that this was Jimmy, this was my best friend who did this. I mean, six months ago I never would have thought him capable of hurting anyone… The guy… the guy dinged his front bumper swerving to avoid a stupid squirrel in the road once. He didn't even want to hurt a squirrel in the middle of the damn road and yet he brings three guns to school. It's like he was two different people… Everyone thinks he's this monster, but I can't shake the image of the guy who used to push his little sister on the swings and give her piggy back rides in public, even if people teased him about it. He was a lot of things, and I still find it hard to believe a murderer is one of them."

"Rose?" Tia asked.

"The hardest thing for me is knowing our town is never going to be the same," Rose said. "It's like battle lines have been drawn or something… For a while, people were being overly nice to each other and opening doors… you know, making an extra effort to be polite? But now that has kind of dissolved. I've noticed a lot of people staring at each other suspiciously, you know: Like they're waiting for the next ticking time bomb to go off. And then there's everyone playing the blame game and their twenty-twenty hindsight… I don't know what's worse… dealing with and moving forward or just staying stuck in the past."

"Edward?" Tia prompted.

"I know Dean and Logan already touched on it…" Edward admitted, "but yeah, the fact that I'm not going to see certain people any more. And I feel guilty. I mean, I realized today that Larry and Royce and Mike… they aren't coming back… and for a moment I felt this… intense relief… they aren't coming back and they aren't going to bully me any more… but then I felt awful because I shouldn't feel relieved, you know? You shouldn't be happy about… someone being dead… I mean, I guess it's good to feel okay that Hitler is dead or whatever… but then there are also people like Lee and Riley and Samantha… they never did anything… they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. And it's hard for me to understand why things like this can be so… random… I mean, why did I live and other people who got shot died? What's so special about me that I'm still alive?"

"Yeah," Emmett nodded. "I feel a lot of that… what do you call it… survivor's guilt? I mean, I wasn't smarter than anyone he killed. I'm not better than anyone else who died. Hell, I'd argue I'm not even a better athlete than many of them. I don't even think it was a matter of who Jimmy felt deserved to live and deserved to die at the end of it. But in some ways… I feel like maybe I didn't deserve to live. Like him leaving me alive was a mistake… maybe the doctors should have saved someone else instead of me."

"Your wounds were nonlethal," Edward pointed out.

"I could have bled out," Emmett argued.

"We all could have," Jasper said, giving a slight smile to Alice.

"Alice?" Tia prompted her.

"This is going to sound weird and totally…whatever," Alice sighed. "Before this, I never realized how strained my relationship with my little sister had become. Cyn and I used to be really close. Like matching clothing everyday close. But we kind of drifted apart into different circles of friends… and when I heard those gunshots in the hallway… all I could think about…" Alice felt sobs start to break apart her voice. "All I could think about was where my baby sister is and is she safe. And that we'd fought that morning because she'd taken the last of the Fruit Loops and I didn't want my baby sister to die with her last memory of me being me calling her a stuck up brat because she ate all the Fruit Loops and I had to have Cornflakes for breakfast… and then afterward… afterward we just cried and talked and… I guess… I guess it's been hard for me to realize how lost we've all become… how far we've strayed. We all used to get along in elementary school. Everyone played on the playground together. We sent everyone in the class Valentines on the Valentine's Day party and now… and now we can't even sit in a room for fifteen minutes without being suspicious of each other."

"You always had the best Valentines," Whitney smiled at Alice. "The rest of us would just go get the store bough kind… you know, with the Disney movie or cartoon themes? But Alice… Alice made everyone's Valentine by hand every year in elementary school. And she personalized them, too. Like, if she knew a guy liked cars she would do his up like a muscle car. And Alice knew I liked princesses and so in third grade she made me this glittery tiara Valentine. And I still have it; Hanging up on the corkboard in my room."

"Really?" Alice grinned.

"Really," Whitney smiled.

"I've still got the one where you drew Stone Cold Steve Austin by hand because you knew I liked wrestling," Emmett admitted.

"Sorry to shatter your illusion of my artistic prowess, but I traced him from a magazine," Alice laughed.

"Still, it was pretty cool," Emmett shrugged.

"This is good," Tia informed them. "I think this is something you have all been missing… connecting with your classmates, and not just your close friends but classmates you haven't seen in a while. I think it would an interesting if each of you reached out to a classmate you haven't spoken to in a while… maybe someone you haven't shared a class with in years or have lost touch with. Just catch up. Be nice. And, believe me; I don't think any of you will regret the decision."

* * *

**End Note:**

_The depiction of the Quileute School is based on real-life reservation schools my mother and I have been to. My mother has spent several summers on mission trips to Lakota Reservations in particular. Native Americans, particularly those living on reservation, rank in the lowest 1 percent of the poverty range in America. The Native American poverty rate is double the national average. Unemployment among Native Americans is also double the rest of the country. _

_Only 76.3 percent of American Indians attain their high school degree due to poverty, culture and other factors. Only 18 percent of American Indians attend college and only 13 percent of them finish college._

_Native American youth have the highest rate of suicide of any ethnic group in the U.S. Suicide is the second highest cause of death for Native Americans between 15 and 24 and the sixth highest cause of death for all Native Americans behind TB, alcoholism, car accidents, diabetes, and accidental injury._

_During a Twilight convention, a Quileute elder attempted to explain to fans how Meyer coopted the tribes legends for her book and how there are no werewolves or vampires in Quileute mythology. She was shouted down by the crowd. She equated the situation to being bullied by the fans. Though Meyer, her book company and film companies have made millions off the Quileute name and even trademarked tribal symbols without tribal consent, the Quileute tribe has not seen a dime. More than half of all remaining Quileutes living in Washington live below the poverty line._


	19. Chapter 19

_Charlotte Bacon, 6; Daniel Barden, 7; Rachel Davino, 29; Olivia Engel, 6; Josephine Gay, 7; Ana Marquez-Greene, 6; Dylan Hockley, 6; Dawn Hochsprung, 47; Madeline Hsu, 6; Catherine Hubbard, 6; Chase Kowalski, 7; Jesse Lewis, 6; James Mattioli, 6; Grace McDonnell, 7; Anne Marie Murphy, 52; Emilie Parker, 6; Jack Pinto, 6; Noah Pozner, 6; Caroline Previdi, 6; Jessica Rekos, 6; Avielle Richman, 6; Lauren Rousseau, 30; Mary Sherlach, 56; Victoria Soto, 2; Benjamin Wheeler, 6; Allison Wyatt, 6_

* * *

_Tuesday, April 29, 2008_

_2:45 p.m. – Quileute Tribal School Parking Lot_

* * *

"Alice said we have to sit in the back," Cynthia informed Bella as the two approached Alice's bright yellow Volkswagen in the parking lot.

"Really?" Bella asked, her eyebrows raising at Alice, who was nervously switching her weight back and forth from one foot to the other, her eyes gazing out over the parking lot.

"Yeah," Cynthia smirked. "Apparently, one _Jasper Whitlock's_ car is in the shop to get its oil changed and since his mother needed the family car he had to hitch a bus ride here. Alice apparently volunteered to take him home – since we live _so close_ and all – so he wouldn't get stuck on the bus."

"Noble of her," Bella grinned, approaching her friend.

"Let's just say if his tires end up cut tomorrow morning or his battery no longer works, my sister is the number one suspect," Cynthia grinned.

"I hear we have another person for our carpool?" Bella grinned at Alice.

"Shush," Alice said, looking for Jasper still. "It was just the…uh… neighborly thing to do."

"You realize if you kidnap him I'm going to have to tell my dad, right?" Bella teased.

"_Bellaaaaa_," Alice droned out. "Cyn's already bugged me enough about this. She was in the hall when I asked him and teased me relentlessly…"

"Her voice got all high and squeaky like a cartoon character when she asked him," Cynthia teased.

"It's not funny!" Alice pouted.

"It was hilarious," Cynthia laughed.

"Well, I hope Jasper likes riding shotgun," Bella smiled. "Even if the backseat isn't the best view of my best friend desperately flirting with her long-time crush."

"Bella! Seriously!" Alice huffed. "I should just go tell Edward Cullen about that wet dream involving his sweater set you had last week and then…"

"Okay, okay," Bella said with a blush. "I'm backing off."

"Here he comes!" Alice squealed. Jasper was shuffling his way out of the building, smiling at Emmett, Tyler and Eric as they all laughed as some joke Emmett had told, but also trying to blend in with the crowd.

"Hi, Jasper," Bella said, as he reached the car since Alice was too excited to form a coherent sentence.

"Hey," Jasper nodded. "Hi, Alice."

"Hi," Alice beamed back.

"So, we should get on the road before the rain picks back up?" Cynthia suggested to her older sister.

"Right," Alice said, still making no move to get into the car.

"Do you want me to shove this in the seat or do you put it in the trunk?" Jasper asked, gesturing to his backpack.

"Up here is fine," Alice said before excitedly sinking into the driver's seat of her car. The vehicle was filled with a few awkward moments of silence before Bella decided to grease the wheels between her best friend and the blond boy in the passenger seat.

"So, Jasper, what did you think of the rez school?" Bella said.

"They're fun to hang out with. It's a shame their school doesn't get better stuff," Jasper said. "A lot of the kids in my history class are really brilliant. They would excel in AP classes if there was enough money to offer them."

"I know, right?" Alice nodded. "There are some really creative kids in the art program too, but there's just not enough money. It sucks. I wish they could partner with our school or something so those kids could get the classes they need, huh? At least Rose enjoyed her body shop class. She told me she floored at the La Push guys when she was able to fix an engine in five minutes they've been working on for three weeks."

Bella sat back and smiled at Cynthia, who winked at her. The conversation between the pair in the front seat flowed for the rest of the drive back to Forks.

* * *

_3:30 p.m. – Cullen Residence_

Edward hadn't minded getting out of class at 2:45 p.m. as opposed to Forks High's usual 3:05 p.m. Of course, he hadn't really enjoyed the nearly forty-minute drive it took to get between the two locations. It was about a thirty-five to forty minute drive for most of the kids from their homes to the Quileute school, which thankfully was on the outskirts of La Push itself. Though the town of La Push was small, it was sprawling and had low speed limits. Edward and Emmett were some of the luckier students who lived toward the national park and thus had a further drive back and forth between the two. With a sigh, Edward tossed his backpack down in the hallway and kicked off his shoes, the scent of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies wafted through the air.

"Hello, sweetie," Esme Cullen said, emerging from the kitchen with her trademark, pearly white smile. "I got you some cookies and milk to do your homework with."

Edward smiled to himself. Anyone who didn't know his family might think his mother was a perfect little Stepford wife, always making cookies and ironing her husband's shirts while he was out busy doctoring up the town. Though his mother did have a fashion sense that was a throwback to Jackie Kennedy and in some cases Donna Reed, she was anything but the subservient housewife. True, she enjoyed cooking and making huge meals for her family, but that was more due to an affinity she had with Julia Child. Esme Platt had been a political science, women's studies double major when she had met pre-med student Carlisle Cullen at the student medical clinic. She had come in because her hand was broken, and after some prodding, Carlisle was able to get her to reveal that she had punched a date square in the nose for getting too fresh with her. When the young man in question came in moments later, saying he had been assaulted at a fraternity party, Carlisle had let him wait in pain for a good fifteen minutes and then "fixed" the young man's broken nose in probably the least medically responsible way possible.

Esme had worked for a while as a staffer in a political office in Chicago and for a while had contemplated becoming a lawyer. However, she also wanted to be a mother and all of the fertility treatments led her to put trying for a baby before her career. Since it was so hard to have Edward, she had wanted to stay home with him every moment she could and after their move to Forks, she never really felt the need to return to work. Of course, many people didn't know she still wrote a political column for a major left-wing news blog twice a week under her maiden name. She did it for fun rather than the money.

"No homework," Edward shrugged. "It's the end of the year. The Quileute kids are pretty much focused on reviewing for their exams… and they've waived them for us… worried that our averages will be brought done because depression over everything that's happened. We'll be taking the AP and state-mandated end-of-course testing with them next week. So, no real homework for a while. Maybe just review worksheets at the end of the week."

"Well, have some cookies anyway," Esme grinned.

"Aren't you worried about me ruining my dinner?" Edward teased her. Esme laughed.

"Your father is taking off of work a little early tonight," Esme said. "Taking us out to the Lodge. Thought the three of us should do something special together."

"He get a promotion or something?" Edward asked, settling into the stool at the island counter and grabbing a cookie.

"No. Just thought we should spend some time as a family," Esme shrugged, taking a seat next to her son. "Between you and me, your father is worried about how much time we spend together as a family. Or rather, the lack of it." Esme dipped her own cookie into a glass of milk before taking a bite. "I suppose… seeing the Hunter family fall apart the way it did… I guess he wants to make sure we're spending quality time together. And the fact that you'll be going off to college in a year is making him a little nostalgic too."

"I know he's got work, and his job's important," Edward shrugged. "And it's not like he ignores either of us or anything. I mean, every second he's home he tries to put us first."

"Yes, but it's the new kick he's on," Esme said. "He's worried that he doesn't play chess with you any more or that the two of you don't do projects together any more like that time you built that bird house together…"

"You mean the time I built the bird house?" Edward scoffed. "Dad's a brilliant surgeon, but I'm sure he flunked woodshop. It's pretty bad when your eleven-year-old is the one who knows you're trying to drill a roof piece into a floor piece instead of the wall. And Dad spends plenty of time with me. He's always popping into my room unannounced wanting to ask me about school or having one of those after-school special father-son talks with me."

"Well, you can tell him that," Esme shrugged. "As for me, I'm not going to argue with the fact that he should take me out dancing more."

"Dad said he should take you out dancing more?" Edward raised his eyebrows.

"No, he said he thinks we should spend more time together as a married couple," Esme shrugged. "And I'm not one to turn down dinner and a movie, especially with a guy like your father…"

"Mom, please," Edward begged.

"Oh, hush," Esme teased. "If I didn't feel that way about him you wouldn't be here."

"Too much," Edward said, sticking his fingers in his ear. "La-la-la, I can't hear you!"

"Sorry, sorry," Esme laughed, "but I think your father really needs the distraction of his home life right now. So, how about we just show him a little extra love and affection, hmm?"

"Okay," Edward said, "but if he wants to get that model train set out of the attic and set it up, this is all on you. I stopped playing with that things years ago. Mostly because he enjoyed it a lot more than I did."

"Done," Esme smiled at her son.

* * *

_3:55 p.m. – Forks Community Hospital_

"Do they make you empty out the bed pans and stuff?" Emmett asked Rose curiously.

"No," Rose shook her head, pushing her snack cart. "Regulations. They can't let me."

"So… what do you do?" Emmett asked.

"Well, the snack cart. I read to patients. Sit and talk with them," Rose said. "I deliver flowers and gifts to patients left at the front desk. Sometimes, I'll take patients to the rooms where their blood work and stuff needs to be done or wheel them out to their cars when they're discharged. I usually only do that when there isn't a nurse around. I also sometimes take the more mobile patients on walks through the hospital gardens and help take them to the day room for activities. We also do all the of the bulletin boards up around the hospital. Like the one in the nursery? We do pink and blue cut outs of storks, write the babies' names on them and hang them up. Things like that to make the hospital more cheerful."

"And you've been doing it since you were fourteen," Emmett nodded. "So… why'd you want to volunteer?"

"I want to be a doctor someday," Rose said. "It seemed like a good start. And it will look good on my college applications, too."

"What kind of doctor?" Emmett asked as Rose stopped her snack cart outside a room.

"Haven't decided yet," Rose shrugged. "I like working with the babies and the kids. But I don't like all the snot they have. I like working with the older patients, too, but it's so hard knowing that many of them aren't long for this earth."

Emmett helped Rose do the rest of her snack cart rounds and then joined her in Ms. Cope's room. He had brought in a new batch of sunflowers earlier to replace the older ones, which were beginning to wilt. Rose had been initially surprised when Nurse Jackie had presented Emmett to her, saying he had stopped by and was interested in the hospital volunteer program. Nurse Jackie had asked Rose to show Emmett around on the pretense that she thought it would be good for him to see the hospital through the perspective of someone his own age rather than one of the more senior volunteers. However, Rose had a feeling this wasn't entirely the case.

"So… why have you suddenly become interested in helping out around here?" Rose asked.

"Well… I mean…" Emmett said nervously. "I was treated here and all… so it would be nice to give back, you know? And seeing you with Ms. Cope… I'd like to feel helpful to someone, you know? Throwing a football around the field makes tons of people in this town happy, but it never makes me feel like I'm really contributing something worthwhile."

"I guess it's a lot of pressure, huh?" Rose nodded.

"Yeah," Emmett sighed. "It's like all these people relive their high school years based on what we do on the field. There are guys who haven't played themselves in twenty years who get really pissed off if we lose a game or don't make it to the championships and what not. It's just like seriously, you haven't been in high school in twenty years and you're still hung up over whether or not the team is going to win a game? I just want to tell them to grow up and get a life, but apparently, high school is as good as it gets for some people and they want to relive it over and over again. Then again, if I end up stuck in Forks for the rest of my life, maybe high school will be the peak of my life. That's a scary thought."

"Tell me about it," Rose snorted. "I'd hate for the best time of my life to be the four years everyone labeled me a whore because I wouldn't put out for Royce so he spread all these rumors about me. I mean, I don't even _ know _anyone in Seqium, let alone… do all the things he said I did with guys there…"

"I never believed him, for what it's worth," Emmett admitted. "In fact, I always thought you were too good for him. I think that's why he was so pissed off that you turned him down. He knew you were too good for him, out of his league."

"You're the first person who's ever thought _that_," Rose snorted.

"Am not," Emmett snorted. "Believe me, a lot of the guys in the locker room were pretty jealous Royce had scored a date with you a _long _time before he made all that stuff up. I never got what you saw in him anyway. He was a jerk."

"He was," Rose sighed. "I don't know… he was popular and all the girls liked him and he was interested in me… It was just nice to be noticed for once. It's stupid, really. I was like the only girl in school without boobs all throughout middle school and then they come in freshmen year and they're huge and suddenly guys are paying attention to me and for a little bit I felt special, but when I realized it was just because they liked my boobs and not me, I kind of felt pretty worthless again…"

"Yeah…um…" Emmett cleared his throat. "Boobs'll do that."

"I know you'll probably get busy when school and football start up again next year, but it would be fun to have you around this place for the summer, at least," Rose told Emmett. "Sometimes it's messy, but the patients are usually a lot of fun."

"I don't know if I'm going out for football again this year," Emmett said quietly.

"Why not? It's your senior year! And you're great on the field," Rose shook her head.

"Yeah, but some of the guys… I'm getting the feeling some of the guys don't really want me on the team anymore," Emmett shrugged.

"I thought that football scholarship was what is going to get you out of Forks," Rose said, her eyebrows raised.

"I did, too," Emmett sighed. "I don't know…"

"You shouldn't give up, especially not because they're trying to intimidate you," Rose shook her head. "The team needs you too much, anyway. We would have lost Royce and Larry to graduation anyway, but without Mike, too, now we probably don't stand much of a chance. Gosh, it's so morbid to be worried more about our football team sucking than why they died…"

"Honestly, I think more people in this town are worried that our football team is going to suck next year rather than the fact that a bunch of people got shot at the school," Emmett snorted. "If Jimmy hadn't shot some football players and cheerleaders, I wonder if anyone would have cared."

"Just don't quit the team, okay?" Rose said.

"Sure," Emmett grinned, "but you've got to come to some of my games, okay?"

"Okay," Rose laughed.

* * *

_4:15 p.m. – Brandon Residence_

It had been a total ploy, but Jasper Whitlock was a desperate man. Sure, he normally didn't listen to his older brother Peter's advice about girls. Peter was mostly shooting in the dark himself and only managed to score dates because he had this funny, bumbling quality like Hugh Grant or Michael Cera that endeared him to girls. The fact that Peter had suggested continually finding ways to talk to Alice seemed to Jasper like a for sure way to have things blow up in his face. But here he was on the front porch of the Brandon residence because he had not-so-accidentally "forgotten" his math notebook in the floorboard of her car. He didn't know how she hadn't caught him unzipping his backpack or nudging the notebook out of it into her car, but now he had an excuse to see her again. He hoped someone would answer the door soon so he no longer had to contemplate how totally lame he was.

"Hi," Alice said, springing the door open and bounding out onto the porch to join him. "What's going on?"

"I think I left something in your car," Jasper said lamely.

"So… that was your notebook in the floor?" Alice grinned.

"Yeah," Jasper admitted.

"I thought it might be Bella's but… let's just say she doodles a lot more in the margins," Alice grinned. "Come on in. I left it in the kitchen."

"Okay," Jasper agreed.

"You get any homework tonight?" Alice asked.

"No, just study sheets," Jasper shrugged. "You?"

"The same," Alice smiled. "How's your mom?"

"Busy," Jasper sighed. "She's taking me to pick up my car later this afternoon after she gets done running her errands. Peter's exams start this week and he'll be home next week, so she's busy getting stuff for him, too. Like all his favorite foods for the fridge and stuff."

"You looking forward to seeing him again?" Alice asked.

"Yeah," Jasper nodded. "It's always good to have him home."

"Well, here's your notebook," Alice said, picking it up off the table and handing it over.

"Thanks," Jasper said. "So…uh… are you doing anything this weekend?"

"Doing anything?" Alice repeated.

"Like… do you have any plans?" Jasper said nervously.

"No, not yet," Alice replied, trying to tone down her smile.

"I was wondering if…uh… maybe you'd like to hang out this weekend?" Jasper suggested.

"Sure," Alice grinned. "Anywhere you have in mind?"

"I was thinking the movies in Port Angeles or something… I mean, I know it's an hour drive but if you go on Saturday afternoon you can catch the matinee and maybe shop or eat or something else," Jasper said, wishing Alice would say something to stop his rambling.

"That sounds great," Alice smiled.

"So, uh, just give me a call when you figure out what movie you want to see and we can decide on a showing or something," Jasper suggested.

"I'll do that," Alice nodded.

"Alice, sweetie, have you seen where I sat down my…" Ann Brandon began as she walked into the kitchen. She stopped short upon seeing her daughter and Jasper Whitlock standing there. "Oh, hello, Jasper. How's your mother?"

"Fine. She's getting things ready for my brother when he comes back next week," Jasper replied.

"Well, tell her I said hello," Ann smiled.

"I will," Jasper nodded.

"I'll show Jasper out," Alice volunteered, not wanting her mother to embarrass her in front of Jasper.

"Okay," Ann nodded.

"It was good to see you, Mrs. Brandon," Jasper nodded before being ushered out of the room by Alice.

"Sorry," Alice whispered to him when they were in the hallway. "I'm sure you didn't want to play twenty questions with her. She does that from time to time."

"It's fine," Jasper assured her as they walked through the front door together. "So…uh… you'll call me?"

"Of course," Alice grinned. As soon as Jasper waved goodbye and headed out the front door, Alice rushed up to her room to pick the perfect movie.

* * *

**End Note:**

_The word "bully" was first used in 1530 and originally applied to both genders and meant "sweetheart." It is from the Dutch _boel_, meaning "lover" or "brother." Around the seventeenth century, the term began to mean "fine fellow" or "blusterer." This gave way to the popular turn of the century exclamation of "bully!" meaning something akin to "jolly good!" Only in the 20th century did it become synonymous with a "torturer of the meek and weak."_

_Girls are more likely to bully in groups than boys. Girls are also more likely to use emotional forms of bullying than boys, who favor physical domination. However, studies have shown that girls are becoming increasingly physical when it comes to bullying. Boys tend to bully according to group, such as "athlete" versus "non-athlete." Girls tend to bully according to social status, such as "popular" vs. "non-popular."_

_Research by Fight Crime/Invest in Kids reports that 60 percent of boys who bullied from first grade through ninth grade were convicted of at least one crime by age 24 and 40 percent had three or more convictions by age 24._


	20. Chapter 20

_**First post in the New Year. Hope everyone had a good holiday. Thanks to dowlingnana as always!**  
_

* * *

_Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you._

_ - Diana, Princess of Wales  
_

* * *

_Thursday, May 1, 2008_

_4 p.m. – Forks Community Center_

Tia's assignment had gone a lot better than many in the group had expected. At his outreach, Edward had brought a chess board to school and played with Tyler, who expressed an interest in helping Edward revamp the Forks High Chess club when they started back to school the next year. Emmett helped a freshman pick up his books in the hallway when he tripped. Bella and Alice made an effort to get to know some of Cynthia's freshmen friends, who were awed that older classmen would pay attention to them. Angela and Ben had stayed after school to tutor some of the Quileute kids in math. Alec said he had done some tutoring, too, though most in the room agreed the only tutoring he could do was teaching freshmen how to roll a doobie. Rose had at least attempted to talk with some of the girls from the junior class, but they weren't willing to forgive her underserved reputation. Jasper had used his car to give another guy a jump in the school parking lot that very afternoon. What surprised Jasper the most was the guy – a senior and captain of the baseball team – had actually thanked him and told him he was a good guy. Whitney had eaten lunch with some people outside her normal crew. Logan and Dean had conveniently forgotten the assignment.

"You know, you may feel these sessions and my assignments are wasting your time," Tia informed Dean and Logan when they owned up to not doing anything, "but the truth of the matter is _you_ are wasting _my_time by taking up time in these sessions without being fully committed and not carrying out your assignments. And you are wasting your classmates' time through your behavior. If you aren't going to treat this seriously, gentlemen, there is the door."

Neither of them made any attempt to get up, instead sinking lower into their seats and avoiding Tia's gaze. Edward wasn't sure what the others thought but he was getting suspicious Dean and Logan were being forced to attend these group sessions by their parents and would probably get in trouble if they were kicked out like Doug had been. Emmett had a feeling it wasn't just their parents; Dean and Logan might get in trouble with Coach as well. Coach didn't like quitters, and as far as he was concerned, any team members who had gone into the counseling sessions were expected to give 110 percent. After all, Coach expected his players to give nothing less at anything they tried their hands at.

The day's lecture revolved around the stages of grief and Tia did her best to help each pinpoint what phase they were in and how to identify where they were on the grief scale. Just about all of them were in the anger stage, though Angela seemed a bit stuck in denial and Jasper seemed to have moved on to depression, though he was just as angry as the rest of them about the whole thing. Tia reminded them that sometimes people could experience the different stages or different times and even regress back into a stage they felt they had already passed. It was apparent that no one in the room was yet near accepting what had happened and ready to move on.

With the session over, Rose got up to go visit Ms. Cope for a little while and Alice went with her. Since Charlie Swan was having a rare night at home, Bella was heading straight home to spend some time with her father and hopefully give him a break from all of his stress at work. Emmett found himself chatting with Jasper and Edward out in the hallway, none of them really ready to leave following the session. Edward was waiting on a text message from his mom, who suggested he pick up some take out for the family on his way back home. She still hadn't gotten word what his father wanted, so he didn't plan on heading out until then. Jasper didn't want to head back to his empty house yet, knowing his mother had errands to run after work. It was as the three were talking that Emmett noticed Dean hanging out in the shadows. Emmett gave him a curious look and, nervously, Dean came over.

"Hey man, can I talk to you a sec?" Dean asked Emmett, seeming really worried. Edward and Jasper looked at Emmett for a minute out of curiosity.

"Sure, dude," Emmett nodded, following Dean over to another corner of the hallway where they could have some relative privacy. "So, what's up?"

"It's just…" Dean sighed. "Look, I'm not trying to stir up shit or anything, okay? But Doug is pretty pissed and he's saying shit about you on Facebook… and I know it's not true. Guy's got a huge chip on his shoulder and what he's doing… I mean, it's not cool… especially not after what happened. It's like he can't take this seriously, like it's all one big joke to him… I don't know man… I just thought you might want to know."

"I knew already," Emmett said. "Doug's apparently never heard of privacy setting. Or he forgot he friended me after making the team last year."

"Yeah, he's not too bright," Dean shrugged. "I just thought you should know, okay? And it's not cool… I don't even want to talk to him anymore. It's like he thinks they're auditioning for the new head honcho at school or something and he wants in on it."

"Have you told Coach?" Emmett asked.

"No," Dean admitted, "but I probably should. He'd probably be more pissed that I knew and didn't say anything than if I was doing it myself."

"Coach'll sort him out. Just leave it to him," Emmett nodded. "See you around, okay?"

"Sure…" Dean nodded. "Oh, and sorry I didn't come and visit you in the hospital, dude. My mom wouldn't let me. She was afraid I was going to be scarred for life or something; Or more scarred for life."

"It's cool," Emmett said.

"Cool," Dean nodded, before heading out.

"What'd he want?" Jasper asked curiously.

"Ah, just some shit on the team," Emmett said. "If you came into our locker room, you'd realize what a bunch of drama queens the team is."

"No offense to you macho sports player guys or anything, but showering with twenty other guys isn't my idea of a good time," Jasper snorted.

* * *

_6:03 p.m. – Brandon Residence_

"But what am I going to _wear_?" Alice huffed as she began throwing things out of her closet.

Bella and Cynthia were sitting on Alice's bed shortly after she had revealed Jasper had asked her on a sort-of date for the weekend. Alice had tittered on about every detail from him asking about her plans to talking about going to see a movie. She had texted him with two possible options – an arty film she had been wanting to see but couldn't drag anyone else to and a sort of action-romantic comedy about a pair of bounty hunters who started to fall in love while attempting to take out the same target. Alice had been a little surprised to find Jasper had chosen the art film over one with explosions and one of the top contenders for 'sexiest woman alive' strutting around half naked. Of course, after spending fifteen minutes dissecting what it meant that Jasper wanted to see an arty film with her rather than romance amid explosions, Alice panicked and realized she hadn't yet chosen an outfit.

"I should have just gone out and bought a whole new outfit," Alice huffed, kicking some of the clothing she had discarded on the floor.

"Do you really need more clothes?" Bella frowned.

"You've met my sister, right?" Cynthia snorted.

"I just want to look absolutely perfect," Alice sighed. "I want to look hot and sexy, but not like I'm a slut who's trying too hard. But I don't want to seem like I don't care at all or I don't care enough to dress up for him. But at the same time, we're just going to the movies, so I don't want to be completely overdressed, especially if I'm just going to get popcorn and sticky movie theater goop on me."

"Sticky movie theater goop," Bella laughed.

"The floors there are always sticky," Alice shrugged.

"And what would you and Jasper be doing on the movie theater floor?" Bella asked with an eyebrow raised.

"I just want him to like me!" Alice sighed.

"I think he likes you," Bella shook her head. "In fact, I think Jasper would like you in anything you wear."

"Why is this so hard?" Alice moaned, plopping on the bed and nearly sending Bella and Cynthia off of it. "I bet he's not staring at his closet figuring out what to wear."

"Just wear those black skinny jeans you like with a nice top," Bella shrugged.

"That's perfect!" Alice shot up. "And short sleeves and I won't bring a jacket so I'll have to ask to borrow his when it gets cold and then he'll let me wear it and…"

"Is my sister conspiring to steal Jasper Whitlock's clothes?" Cynthia asked Bella worriedly.

"She apparently already watches him mow the lawn from her bedroom window with binoculars," Bella shrugged. "I think wearing his jacket is the least of your concerns."

"Oh! And I'll put on those red patent leather pumps Aunt Nancy got me that makes Daddy shiver everytime I wear them!" Alice clapped gleefully.

"Dad calls them hooker shoes," Cynthia informed Bella. "Apparently, it's the only kind of shoe Aunt Nancy wears."

"She's Dad's sister," Alice explained, laying out her perfect outfit. "She's in her forties and all of her boyfriends are in their twenties. Dad thinks there is something wrong with her."

"I think she's doing something amazingly right," Cynthia smirked.

"So, your future boyfriend isn't born yet?" Alice teased her.

"At least I don't spend thirty minutes picking out my underwear for the next day on the off chance Jasper Whitlock might see it," Cynthia scoffed back.

"I'm starting to understand why having siblings may not be as good as I've always imagined," Bella laughed.

* * *

_7:08 p.m. – Swan Residence_

It was a rare night home alone with his wife for Charles Swan. Their daughter Bella was over at the Brandon residence having dinner with her friend Alice and wouldn't be coming back until later in the evening. Renee had made fajitas for dinner and then the two of them had settled on the couch together for some TV. Charlie didn't mind watching one of Renee's inane reality shows as he found his wife's reactions to her programs much more interesting than what was on the screen. Renee's expressiveness was one of the things about her he had first fallen in love with, and it was good to remember what it was that had brought them together.

Charlie had just gotten comfortable on the couch, breathing in the sweet scent of his wife's hair as she cuddled up to him when his phone rang. His instant reaction was to groan, which made Renee giggle a little bit. How much Charlie longed for the days before cell phones, when he couldn't be contacted twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week by his force. He missed the days of the rare phone call in the middle of the night or even being able to lie and say he didn't hear his beeper go off. Now, however, he was expected to respond to every call and every text any rookie sent him any time. He flipped open his phone and from listening to the message his lieutenant left he knew he would have to cut his quiet night at home short.

"What's happening?" Renee asked worriedly.

"Patrolman picked up a group of kids vandalizing the cemetery," Charlie shook his head.

"No respect these days," Renee huffed. "No one would have dared do that when we were kids. Who would do such a thing?"

"It was the Hunter family's plot," Charlie said. Renee's mouth opened wide and then closed in shock. "There are a lot of people in town I imagine hate that family. I'm going in on this one. I want to see what this was all about."

"That's just wrong," Renee shook her head. "I know this town is hurting, but vandalizing a tomb stone? Is nothing sacred anymore?"

"Apparently not," Charlie sighed, giving his wife a goodbye kiss. "Lock up after I go, put on the security alarm, and send me a message when Bella gets home."

"You know, in nearly twenty years of you being overprotective not once has anyone broken into our home," Renee teased him.

"Well, I don't want them to start tonight," he shrugged.

It was a short drive into the office and Charlie tried not to laugh at the site of the nervous looking teenagers in handcuffs his officers had corralled into the reception area. The two girls were crying but two of the three boys were downright blubbering at being caught by the cops. The patrolman who brought them in was a young guy Charlie thought of as a bit of an asshole with a mix of little man or Wyatt Earp syndrome. He had no doubt harassed the kids a bit. Charlie wouldn't have been surprised if he had convinced the kids they would get the electric chair for some spray paint. The fact that the spray paint had been on the Hunter's grave site, however, made things a lot different than any other act of vandalism.

Three of them he had seen before, a couple of freshman boys named Hank, Jeff and Brent from the high school that had been minor troublemakers. They had been caught drinking beers they had stolen from their dads as well as committing general mischief such as vandalism and shoving bananas into the tailpipes of unsuspecting cars parked at the diner. It was the two females brought in with them that really raised Charlie's eyebrows. They were Kate Dezhnev and Serena Katz, the younger sister of Tanya Dezhnev and Victoria Katz. The two girls were straight A students and pretty straight-laced, though Charlie noticed they had the potential to become the menacing queen bees their sisters had become in a matter of years. There was really no reason for the boys to be at the cemetery to commit vandalism but the connection between the sisters of two of Jimmy's victims raised Charlie's eyebrows.

It wasn't too complicated for Charlie to get the gist of what had probably happened. After all, when he was a wiry freshman boy whose voice hadn't completely changed yet he probably would have done anything a pair of pretty girls asked him to as well. Putting on his tough cop voice and scowl, Charlie instructed for each of them to be questioned individually regarding the incident. Teenagers caved to peer pressure, but, Charlie's experience told him they would cave quicker to cops and rat out their friends rather than risk any more trouble. He ordered for Victoria and Serena to be kept outside while the three boys were questioned independently about what had happened. Charlie took Jeff, who was blubbering more than the rest of them, into the main interrogation room with one of his other officers.

The officer showed several photographs that had been taken and printed off of the damage by the patrolman on scene as the young man whimpered. Charlie looked over the pictures in disgust, seeing the foul words and insults that had been spray painted not only across Jimmy's small tombstone but the grave stones of his sister and mother. He didn't really care about James Hunter, Sr. who probably deserved it. He looked up at the boy with his best bad cop attitude.

"We can do this one of two ways, kid," Charlie informed him. "We can do this the easy way and we can do it the hard way. You can tell me the truth or I can let you spend the night in a cell."

"Don't I at least get a phone call?" Jeff blubbered. "Sure. You can talk to your folks when I'm done telling them about how you were brought in here for desecrating a cemetery. I know your father, son, and I'm pretty sure he'd be more than happy to let me keep you here in a cell overnight. Now, what happened?"

"It wasn't my idea," Jeff shook his head. "She gave us the spray cans and paid us twenty bucks a piece. And she drove us up to the cemetery. I mean, its way too far to walk and…"

"Serena or Kate," Charlie asked.

"Excuse me?" Jeff whimpered.

"Who paid you, bought the spray paint and drove you?" Charlie prompted. "Serena or Kate?"

"No, they just went with us to make sure we did it, you know," Jeff blubbered. "Serena said she might even let me take her to the movies if I went along. I mean, she's really cute and…"

"That doesn't answer my question," Charlie gritted out. "Who asked you to do this?"

"Serena's mom," Jeff admitted.

"Eleanor Katz?" Charlie said.

"She told us we wouldn't get in any trouble if we were caught. That we're juveniles and they'd let us off," Jeff nodded. "And she gave us the money and the spray paint…"

"What Mrs. Katz didn't tell you was that malicious mischief causing this much property damage is a felony," Charlie pointed out to him. "Not to mention we can charge all of you for misdemeanor trespassing on top of that. If we charge you all as juveniles, your little girlfriends might get off with a lighter sentence because they haven't been in trouble before. However, you and your buddies have been in my office a few too many times. If the judge is merciful, you're looking at probation, community service, and paying Mrs. Hunter for the damage caused to her family's gravestones…. If he's not so lenient you might find yourself in a diversion program or at the detention center…"

"Wait… Mrs. Hunter?" Jeff frowned.

"You didn't just damage your classmate's tombstone," Charlie informed him. "You damaged the graves of his mother, six-year-old sister and father. And this is all the property of his grandmother, who lives in a retirement community in Tacoma. I'm sure she won't be happy to learn what has happened…"

"I didn't know…" Jeff began.

"And that is no excuse," Charlie said, standing up from the table. He exited the room to find two other officers waiting for him.

"They both confessed. Eleanor Katz paid them and gave them the spray paint," the first said.

"The girls came in with a bottle of vodka on them she'd provided as well," the second agreed.

"Bring her in," Charlie said. "I want all five of these kids put in cells. Call their parents and if the parents come to pick them up, release them into their parents' custody. If not, keep them here for 24 hours. Notify the school if you have to."

"Yes sir," the officer said.

"And make sure Mrs. Katz knows that not only for aiding and abetting minors in vandalism but also for providing alcohol to them she could face up to two years in prison as well as a ten thousand dollar fine," Charlie said. "Make her sweat."

"Believe me, with the entire prowler' and 'illegal parking' reports she's made over the past year, it'll be my privilege," the officer smirked.

Charlie sighed and headed home for the evening. He hoped the judge wouldn't be lenient. It was time someone in the town of Forks learned their lessons.

* * *

**End Note:**

_While teachers say they intervened 71 percent of the time in bullying incidents, students report that teachers intervened only 25 percent of the time. The average bullying episode lasts only 37 seconds. Teachers notice or intervene in only one in 25 incidents_

_Only 1 in 10 victims of cyber bullying tell a parent. Fewer than 1 in 5 cyber bullying incidents are reported to the police. According to a 2004 survey of 4th through 8th grade students, 53 percent of children reported that they used the Internet to say something negative about another child._

_Thirty percent of students who say they have been bullied said they sometimes had brought weapons to school._ _Bullying happens not just in the United States but also all over the world. International researchers have demonstrated that bullying in schools is universal._


	21. Chapter 21

**Thanks to dowlingnana**

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_Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. _

_- Lao Tzu, ancient Chinese philosopher_

* * *

_Friday, May 1, 2008_

_7:40 a.m. – Quileute Tribal School parking lot_

It didn't take long for the news to spread of Eleanor Katz's arrest for sending five high school students to vandalize the Hunter family plot. While half of the town of Forks felt she was justified and should be let off the hook as a grieving mother, others were disgusted that she would not only pay off minors with money and alcohol to perform the act but also desecrated the graves of two innocent victims: Jimmy's mother and sister. Soon enough, a few of the statewide and even a couple or two national media outlets were traipsing outside the cemetery looking to score a story. Though many felt she deserved worse, the judge was more lenient than most would have liked. She sentenced Eleanor to three years' probation along with a $5,000 fine that would land Eleanor in jail if it wasn't paid by a certain date. Her ex-husband helped her out so there wouldn't be a shadow of a doubt over his legal practice, but immediately after securing her fine was paid he served her with papers intended to take full custody of their remaining daughter, citing Eleanor's actions as a sign that she wasn't a fit mother or role model.

The five juveniles charged in the case were not at school Friday but were set to return the next Monday morning. However, friends at school knew each was worriedly anticipating their court dates. Serena Katz was completely embarrassed by her mother and her own complicity in the act, trying to stay below the radar. The three boys tried to remain a tough persona but weren't getting much sympathy from the Quileutes who had been brought up to have the utmost respect for their elders and particular reverence for the dead. Of course, it was Kate Dezhnev who seemed to be dealing with the repercussions of the event the hardest.

"I still can't believe they'd do something like that," Emmett shook his head as he and his friends gathered around before school was set to start. "I mean, cemeteries are like sacred and stuff."

"I don't know how they got in," Tyler admitted. "I mean, that place is pretty secure; and at night? Dude, I don't do cemeteries at night."

"I try not to do cemeteries at all," Eric snorted.

"And Mrs. Katz was in on it," Emmett shook his head. "She always struck me as a little cuckoo…"

"She did lose her daughter," Edward pointed out.

"That's not much of an excuse," Emmett said. "She always was kind of a bitch before. I mean, the way she would treat Victoria during cheer practice…"

"She is all about status," Jasper nodded. "She was dead set against Jimmy and Victoria dating because he wasn't 'the right sort' of person for her daughter. I mean, I kind of get why her husband left her, you know? She was mean and only cared about his money and what people thought of her… I'm not at all surprised she did something like that."

"She has always crept me out," Tyler nodded. "My mom was on the PTA with her last year and complained about her after every meeting. Said she always wanted to be in charge of everything but never knew what was going on."

"I can't believe Kate was in on it," Edward admitted. "She's just… she's so shy. She's the last person I would ever expect to get roped into it."

"Peer pressure," Jasper shrugged.

"Yeah, she has hung out with Serena a bit lately," Edward admitted.

"Hey, what's going on?" Alice grinned, sidling up to Jasper with Bella and Rose walking in beside her. Alice and Jasper exchanged knowing grins, both anticipating their date that evening. Alice had only told Bella, Rose and her sister about it, and she wasn't sure if Jasper had told anyone other than maybe his mother.

"We're just talking about how glad we are Bella's dad got Mrs. Katz off the streets," Emmett replied.

"Yeah… he's pretty mad about the whole thing," Bella blushed. "I know a lot of people are mad that he arrested them…"

"They vandalized a cemetery," Tyler shrugged. "It shouldn't matter whose grave it was. Cemeteries are like public property anyway."

"And giving alcohol to minors is such a mature, intelligent thing for a mother to do," Rose agreed.

"Plus, the hag's kind of a bitch," Emmett nodded.

"That's not exactly a crime," Jasper pointed out.

"Yeah, there would be a lot more people locked up if it was," Rose agreed, causing the rest of the group to laugh. The bell started to ring signaling that students needed to start heading to their home room classes and causing the group in the parking lot to groan.

"Ugh, class," Emmett groaned.

"Only a week and a half left," Tyler pointed out.

"Ugh, exams," Emmett groaned again.

"You'll get through it Big Guy," Eric teased him.

The three jostled off to class together, though Emmett waved at Rose as she sheepishly headed in the opposite direction. Jasper and Alice walked off together, sharing sly smiles between themselves as they headed toward their shared first class. The rest of their friends moving on, Edward and Bella found themselves stepping in line together as they headed into the building.

"So, how's your dad doing?" Edward asked.

"Tired after being called in last night," Bella sighed. "Thankfully, we're unlisted but we've already received a few calls from people thinking he did the wrong thing by arresting them and Mrs. Katz. I can only imagine how many calls he is going to get at work today. His job can be an unforgiving one."

"He did what he was supposed to," Edward said, "even if it wasn't popular. If there's anything people should have learned from this whole thing it's that popular opinion isn't always right."

"He used to love his job a lot," Bella sighed. "When I was little, he just couldn't wait to get to work. He really felt like he was helping people, he was making a difference. That's all he wanted to do… but ever since this happened… It's like it physically hurts him to go to work. He never smiles when he talks about his work now. I miss him being enthusiastic about it. When I was little, I always felt like my dad was a superhero because he was a cop. Now… I'm worried it's killing him."

"I know what you mean," Edward admitted. "My dad's job is literally to save people's lives. But ever since that day… he doesn't seem to be as proud of his job any more, he doesn't seem to be satisfied by it like he used to. It's like he can only see the negative part of his job now. He doesn't talk about saving someone's grandfather with an emergency triple bypass or making a little kid feel better when they've broken their arm. He only talks about the bad things he sees in his job."

"Do you think they'll ever get over it?" Bella asked.

"I don't know," Edward replied quietly.

* * *

_12:13 p.m. – Quileute Tribal School cafeteria_

Five minutes after lunch began six large Quileute seniors and a badly beaten Doug Meckler were paraded through the halls of the school and straight to the principal's office. By the time the group was safely ensconced in the locked principal's office to discuss what had happened, rumors of the incident in the parking lot had already spread through the small school. Sitting down at her now regular table with Rose, Emmett, Alice, Edward, Jasper, Jacob and his friends, Bella herself wondered why several huge guys including Sam Uley had beaten up Doug.

"Dude, did you see that guy's face? It was all bloody," Embry said, sitting down at the table.

"Yeah, well he deserved it," Jacob shrugged.

"Is Leah with Seth?" Quil asked curiously.

"Uh-huh. She's staying with him until their mom picks him up," Jacob nodded.

"What's going on?" Alice asked curiously.

"Some of our boys just gave a pale face some lessons in manners," Jacob shrugged.

"What did Doug do?" Emmett asked curiously.

"He beat up Leah's little brother Seth," Quil shrugged.

"He didn't beat him up," Jacob shook his head. "He just roughed him up a little. Seth's in middle school, but, he's a smart kid and takes advanced classes. He made Doug look stupid in history or something and Doug tried to rough him up after class."

"How does your school's quarterback and offense line play into that?" Emmett asked curiously.

"Look, your buddy was out of line…" Jacob began hotly.

"I never said he was my buddy," Emmett said. "Doug's an ass. He's only hanging on to his position on the team by a thread."

"We're all cousins, just about," Quil shrugged. "Sam is first cousins with Leah and Seth and is like an older brother to them."

"You mess with one Quileute you mess with all of us," Embry nodded.

"They just felt Doug should be picking on someone his own size," Quil replied.

"No offense, but Sam Uley is twice Doug's size," Jasper pointed out. "I think he's twice the size of half the teachers here."

"Yeah," Jacob admitted, "but the dude shouldn't dish it out if he can't take it back."

"Are they in a lot of trouble?" Bella asked.

"Sam and the guys? Probably not," Jacob shrugged. "I mean, yeah, you aren't supposed to fight on school grounds, but we take care of our own here. I mean, who's to say Doug didn't fall repeatedly in the parking lot? It's their word against his."

"How bad is Seth?" Bella asked.

"Black eye and bloody nose," Jacob said. "He just didn't want to be at school the rest of the day afterward. I mean, he's fine physically but…"

"You don't want people constantly asking you about it the rest of the day," Edward finished. "And nosebleeds can make you a little bit light-headed."

"You get nosebleeds often?" Embry asked.

"Used to when I was little," Edward said. "They finally figured out there was some chemical in my inhaler that was causing them, so I switched brands."

"Inhaler buddies!" Embry grinned, pulling his own inhaler out of his pants pocket.

"Put that thing down," Quil grimaced.

"I sprayed it in his face once because he was bugging me and he still isn't over it," Embry confessed to Edward, making him chuckle.

"Does that sort of thing happen often here?" Jasper asked curiously.

"Not really," Jacob shrugged. "There was a fight like back in August between two guys. One of them had caught the other one with his girlfriend… but beyond stuff like that everyone pretty much gets along. Our parents would have our asses and be lecturing us about tribe pride and shit like that if we didn't."

"Usually if people have a problem with each other they go to the elders," Embry nodded.

"You wouldn't believe the weird problems my dad has mediated," Jacob nodded. "Once, these two brothers who were like in their forties came to him because they were about to go to blows over who got the last pork chop. It's weird, but I guess it works out. The elders make decisions, their words are law, and everyone goes about their business."

"The last pork chop?" Edward shook his head.

"Hey, depends on how good the pork chop was," Emmett pointed out. "Some food is too good to pass up. I might stab someone over the last piece of my great-aunt's apple pie. Just saying."

"So… what do you think will happen to Doug?" Bella asked.

"I don't know," Jacob said. "This whole sharing school thing is a gray area for everyone."

"Whatever happens," Emmett shrugged, "I hope they managed to knock some sense into him."

* * *

_9:30 p.m. – Deer Park Cinema, Port Angeles_

"Okay, that was a lot worse than the review," Alice giggled as she and Jasper left the movie theater together. "I mean, a lot of times I just dismiss accusations of 'trying too hard' when they're talking about an art flick since those aren't for everyone but this one was…"

"What was that?" Jasper shook his head. "I mean, I've seen pretentious movies before, but it was like they were trying to show just how pretentious they were. They were trying to out-pretentious every pretentious movie that's ever been made."

"Why is it the movies that advertise themselves as being intellectual and provoking deep thought has such little substance to them?" Alice shook her head. "What was the moral of that movie? Money doesn't buy you happiness but in the end it does?"

"I'm still trying to figure out that weird time travel bit toward the end," Jasper admitted. "It was like they threw in three scenes from a completely different movie and then went back to the first movie. If it didn't have the same actors I would have been convinced they accidentally spliced two different reels together."

"We should have seen the shoot 'em up," Alice decided. "It probably had more of a plot. And better acting."

"It's pretty bad when a movie with more explosions than actual dialogue has a better plot and better acting than a supposed 'Oscar contender,'" Jasper shook his head. "They must be aiming low at the Academy Awards this year."

"I'm really sorry for dragging you out to see that," Alice admitted.

"No, it's fine," Jasper grinned at her. "If we'd seen it alone we wouldn't have anyone to make fun of it with."

"Good point," Alice grinned.

During their conversation, Jasper had slipped his hand into Alice's. He had rubbed his thumb over her palm as they headed back to his car and now, clutching her hand tightly, he felt a series of strange marks over her wrist. She jerked her hand back slightly out of his and Jasper looked at her confused, worried that he might have done something inappropriate or maybe that Alice didn't want him to hold her hand. Alice fiddled with her sleeve a bit and then the series of bracelets she always wore over her wrists.

"Is everything okay?" Jasper asked worriedly.

"Yeah…" Alice blushed. "I just have scars. They… embarrass me…"

"On your wrist? What happened?" Jasper asked, concerned.

"I was a dumb thirteen-year-old," Alice shrugged. "You know, moody and felt my parents didn't 'get me' and all that. Anyway, I read on this website about how taking razor blades and cutting your wrists was supposed to make you feel better and I tried it a few times…"

"You slashed your wrists?" Jasper asked, horrified.

"Not deeply," Alice blushed; "And just a few times. Then, Bella came over and my mom just let her in and she walked in on me… and rightfully freaked. She was screaming at me and my mom came up and found what I was doing… My parents made me go to therapy for like two years before I convinced them I was over it."

"You could have really hurt yourself," Jasper frowned.

"Don't I know it," Alice sighed. "It was really dumb and I have a few scars left over… Kind of reminds me that things aren't as bad as they could be. I don't like people seeing them, though."

Jasper picked up Alice's wrist, allowing her sleeves and bangles to expose the three faint scar lines on her wrist. Alice winced a bit as Jasper looked at them. Then, he slowly ran his thumb over the scars before bringing them to his lips and placing a gentle kiss where her scars were. The gesture was much more intimate than Alice had anticipated and she blushed bright red as he intertwined her fingers with his own, bringing her hand to his side and lightly pulling her close. Secretly, Alice felt a trill of excitement bubbling forth from her body. Though what they had been discussing was pretty serious she couldn't help but feel thrilled that Jasper was holding her so close.

"I'm glad you didn't really hurt yourself," Jasper told her.

"Me, too," Alice grinned up at him.

* * *

**End Note:**

_Very few studies have been done on those who harm themselves and particularly with a focus on teenagers who self-harm themselves. What is known is the number of self-harm cases in the U.S. is on the rise and if untreated, self-harm can continue into the adult years. Only 2 million self-harm cases are reported each year. _

_The typical self-harmer is female in her mid-20 to early 30s, and has been cutting herself since her teens. She's intelligent, middle or upper-middle class, and well educated. Often times, she comes from a home where she was physically or sexually abused and has at least one alcoholic parent. However, not all self-harmers fit this profile. An estimated 50 percent of self-harmers have been sexually abused and roughly 60 percent are female._

_Every year, 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 7 boys engage in self-injury. An estimated 90 percent of those who self-harm begin doing so in teen or pre-adolescent years and 50 percent of those will continue to self-harm into their twenties. _

_Though 60 percent of self-harmers report they are not suicidal, they are nine times more like to report suicide attempts than those who do not self-harm. _


	22. Chapter 22

**Thanksto dowlingnana**_  
_

* * *

_Recovery begins from the darkest moment. _

_- John Major, former British prime minister_

* * *

_May 5, 2008_

_9:15 a.m. – Quileute Tribal School_

When the five perpetrators in the cemetery vandalism case returned to school Monday, they were virtually ignored by their classmates. Though Serena and the three boys tried to take it in stride, it was emotionally raw Kate Dezhnev who seemed to be taking the whispers and cutting looks the hardest. Still not used to his class changes at the Quileute School, Edward found himself again late for class Monday morning and encountering a sobbing Kate Dezhnev sitting on the floor in front of the Quileute trophy cases. Though they weren't well funded, Edward had noticed the Quileutes took their sports seriously and had plenty of trophies to fill their custom-made cases.

"You okay?" Edward asked Kate. She looked up at him with tears dripping off her nose and black circles under her eyes. The way she tilted her head almost reminded him of Tanya, but he shook the thought out of his head.

"Everything's just a mess," Kate admitted. Edward sat down beside her on the floor. After all, it wasn't like he needed to show up for calculus. They were just reviewing for the upcoming final exam, and he had been bored the past couple of days anyway.

"I don't even know why I did it," Kate admitted. "I mean, I didn't drink anything, unlike the guys and Serena… I just… I guess I went along with it because she did and they did and… I was just so mad, you know? I know my sister wasn't perfect, but I just… I wish I could take it out on someone… I just feel like hitting and kicking and screaming and at first it felt good, but when I really stepped back and realized what I did I realized I was just hurting someone else and it wasn't making me feel better and…"

Kate wiped some tears from her eyes and sniffled a bit. Edward still wasn't sure what to say, but he figured Kate just needed someone to listen for a little while. He didn't know how he felt about what she had done in all honesty, but he somehow felt like he was probably the best person for Kate to vent to. Even if things hadn't ended well with Tanya, he still had a connection to her sister that Kate needed to grab a hold of.

"… I didn't know Jimmy had a grandma," Kate said. "I didn't even think that she might be hurting just as much as I am. And he had a little sister to and what he did… I mean, it's not exactly forgivable… but what we did… Serena and Jeff wrote such mean things on there and she was just a six-year-old who went to bed one night and never woke up… Why would he do that?"

"His dad beat them up a lot," Edward shrugged. "I guess he thought he was protecting her. I mean, you would have done a lot for Tanya, right?"

"Yeah," Kate shrugged, "and I think she would have for me."

"Somehow in Jimmy's warped mind he thought killing his sister would protect her," Edward shrugged. "Maybe he thought that was the only way to stop his father from beating her and his mother. Maybe he was trying to protect them from the fallout of what he did. I don't think we'll ever know either way."

"I just feel rotten, you know?" Kate sighed. "Even worse than I felt before. And Serena's mad and won't talk to me because we got in trouble and her mom's in jail now and her dad and stepmother are super pissed with her. Not to mention my parents are pretty angry that I'm in trouble and now I'm afraid they'll send me to prison or something and I won't be able to get into college."

"Tell the judge what you told me," Edward shrugged, "that you were confused about how you felt and you realized pretty quickly what you did wasn't going to make anything better. Be sincere and take whatever punishment they give you then move forward. We all do stupid things…"

"Not everyone gets arrested," Kate snorted.

"Not everyone gets caught," Edward shrugged, "but if you move forward from this in a positive way I don't see it plaguing you for the rest of your life. I mean, sure it might come back to bite you in the ass if you run for president or something, but I refuse to believe what happens in high school has all this control over the rest of my life. I mean, a D in English or something isn't setting me up for failure."

"When has Edward Cullen ever made a D?" Kate snorted.

"I nearly flunked out of gym in middle school," Edward shrugged. "My dad finally wrote some medical excuse note for me."

"Thanks, Edward," Kate sighed. "I just wish Tanya was here for me to talk to. I know she wasn't as nice to you as she could have been, but I miss her a lot. She was a good big sister, even if she wasn't always a good person."

"We should probably get to class, huh?" Edward said.

"Yeah," Kate smiled. "See you around."

"See you around," Edward nodded.

* * *

_12:23 p.m. – Forks Police Department_

While arraignment hearings were always expedient, Charlie Swan new there was a possibility it could be weeks before Eleanor Katz was brought before the municipal judge in Forks. He knew the juvenile judge was so backed up the summer might be over before the five kids in the case were tried. It was an unfortunate fact of the justice system that prosecution seemed to take forever in light of pretrial hearings, meetings with lawyers and general red tape. He wondered idly if Eleanor and her daughter would get a speedier trial than most since her ex-husband was buddy-buddy with most of the judges in the county. After all, it was difficult to send a man's daughter to juvie one day and then play a round with him at the country club the next.

Today, however, Charlie had bigger fish to fry. Willard Greevey, head of the school board, had called him up that morning. The school board's regularly scheduled May meeting was going as scheduled the next Monday evening. Greevey couldn't reveal much under law, but off the record he told Charlie the investigation into Forks High Principal Harold Greene was in, and it wasn't good. Greevey said he could just about guarantee four out of the five board members were ready to vote to fire the longstanding principal not only to save their own election seats but because of the copious amount of allegations against the principal. Greevey admitted it had made him sick to his stomach to see Greene – his admitted long-time friend – was being accused of everything from favoring football players in bullying situations to firing a young substitute teacher who alleged one of the 18-year-old basketball players for the school was sexually harassing her and even cornered her in the empty school parking lot one afternoon. Though that particular incident had happened three years before, it was one of too many stains on Greene's reputation.

Greevey wasn't sure if parents would riot or how Greene would react to losing his position. Either way, he wanted a police presence at the meeting and he felt in particular the presence of Chief Charlie Swan and a few officers from Forks would help appease the larger crowd of Forks High parents who definitely would be present at the meeting. Greevey also passed on a tip that he had overheard Greene's house had been vandalized a few nights before, but hadn't reported anything. Charlie rubbed his forehead as he hung up with the school board president, concerned that his cemetery vandalism case had just taken another turn. He put his detective on it and then lay back in his chair, glancing at the clock and calculating how many hours until his day was over. He heard the door to his office open and was surprised to see his wife coming through.

Charlie honestly couldn't remember the last time Renee had come to visit him at work. It had to have been before Bella became a teenager. When they first started dating and on through their early years of marriage, Renee would make random visits to him at the department. When Bella was little and first starting school, she would often times bring their daughter by to show off to the guys on the force. Nothing had brightened his day like the site of his wife holding his little girl in pigtails coming through the building. Those days seemed long gone, but under Renee's arms was tucked an old picnic basket Charlie thought had been sold in a garage sale years ago.

"I know you're probably busy, but I thought you could use a break," Renee said, shutting the door behind her and bringing the picnic basket to his desk. "I made some BLT sandwiches and got together some potato salad and pie slices…"

"Much better than the Hungry Man meal I had packed," Charlie smiled, helping her unpack the picnic basket. "It's been a while since we've done this, huh?"

"Too long," Renee nodded. "I miss this."

"We should do it more often," Charlie said. "Although, maybe meeting for lunch somewhere other than this old building might be better. It's kind of hard to enjoy your pie when I've got officers coming into my office every five seconds to reports cats stuck up trees."

"I like our town boring," Renee admitted. "No worrying about if it's safe to send my daughter to work or waiting up past midnight for my husband to come home."

"Me too honey," Charlie sighed. "Unfortunately, if it's not one thing it's another these days. I'd gladly go back to the days where our main focus was scaring moose out of people's yards."

"I'm looking forward to when Bella gets out of school in a few weeks," Renee nodded. "It'll be nice to have her around the house for a few months, if nothing else for just the distraction and knowing where she is and that she's safe… I'm afraid I'm becoming this overbearing mother all of a sudden…"

"You're not overbearing," Charlie shook his head. "You're just cautious, and the fact that she's safe is a major priority for both of us. If I could follow her around all day, I would, even if she didn't like it. I'm sure your father felt the same way about you when you were a teenager."

"You would have hated that," Renee teased him. "Though, we probably would have gotten into less trouble."

"You love getting into trouble with me," Charlie smirked. Renee laughed and gave him a kiss.

"You know, we've got one very special daughter, Charlie," Renee smiled.

"Yes," Charlie grinned. "We do."

* * *

_3:41 p.m. – Forks Community Hospital_

It wasn't Rose's day to volunteer at the hospital, but for some reason she felt like dropping by. It was as if there was some undeniable force drawing her to the building that afternoon. She brought by her school work and a copy of _Daisy Miller_, the latest book she was going to read to Mrs. Cope.

Before heading back, she stopped to chat with Nurse Jackie and some other hospital volunteers she worked with frequently at the nurse's station. Dr. Gerandy stopped by to get a patient file and asked her how school was going before continuing on with his rounds. One thing Rose was thankful for was that all the doctors in the hospital encouraged her interest in medicine and were willing to answer her questions or let her know about opportunities she might want to take advantage of to increase her chances of eventually getting into medical school. Dr. Gerandy even told her she needed to submit her resume to Forks Community the second she graduated from medical school. It was nice to know there were people who supported her endeavors, even if her own schoolmates didn't seem to care much about the girl behind the rumors. Dr. Cullen also stopped by the nurse's station a few minutes later to pick up a file and smiled at Rose.

"I didn't think you had Rose working here today, Jackie," Dr. Cullen said teasingly. "How hard are you working our volunteers?"

"I'm just visiting," Rose admitted.

"Here to see Shelley Cope?" Dr. Cullen nodded, knowing well how dedicated Rose had been to the woman. "What did you bring to read this time?"

"Henry James," Rose replied. "So, how is she doing?"

"Well, I don't want to get either of our hopes up, but her brain activity has increased a little over the weekend," Dr. Cullen said.

"Do you know how bad it will be when she wakes up?" Rose asked. "Will she be able to walk or talk or… will she remember anything?"

"I'm afraid we won't know until she wakes up what the full extent of her damage is," Dr. Cullen sighed. "The brain is a mysterious thing, probably the most mysterious part of the human body. The odds aren't particularly in her favor, but then again, that hasn't stopped her from continuing to fight on so far."

"She had a fresh batch of sunflowers sent up to her room this morning," Nurse Jackie noted. "If I didn't know Emmett McCarty was on the high school football team I'd think Shelley had a secret admirer."

"He's a good young man," Dr. Cullen nodded. "Well, I better get back to work."

"Yeah, they don't pay you the big bucks to bother the nurses," Nurse Jackie smirked. "Well, Rose, honey, let's go back there."

Rose began her visit with Mrs. Cope in the usual way. She told her about school, what was going on in her life and some of the latest gossip around the city of Forks. She had gotten a general update on the condition of Mrs. Cope's cats from Jasper at school that day and had relayed the information to Mrs. Cope about how her pets were doing. Exhausted with the one-sided conversation, Rose opened up the book to the first chapter and began to read aloud. She had lost herself in reading halfway through the second chapter when she heard a creaking sound behind her. Rose quickly turned around to find none other than Emmett McCarty standing at the door, looking very much like a deer caught in the headlights to see Rose staring back at him.

"I just…uh… I can come back," Emmett said.

"No…it's fine," Rose said. "Really."

"I just wanted to make sure she got the flowers," Emmett said. "I knew the other ones were probably getting old and no one really wants wilted flowers in their room, so I thought maybe they could send up some fresh ones…"

"It was nice of you," Rose smiled.

"Well, having those balloons Alice brought up for Jasper brightened our hospital room up," Emmett shrugged. "I was going stir crazy over a few days. I can't imagine what it must be like to be in this place long-term."

"It can be draining," Rose admitted.

"So… what do you do when you aren't here or at school?" Emmett asked Rose curiously.

"Not much," Rose admitted. "I've got to stay pretty focused on my studies and extra curricula's if I want to get into a good college."

"Yeah, but summer's coming up and you're at least planning on having fun then aren't you?" Emmett asked her worriedly.

"I'll be increasing my hours here at the hospital," Rose shrugged.

"They can only let you work so much by law, right?" Emmett said. "Besides, summer is the time when you're supposed to be having fun, kicking back and relaxing. If you're looking for something to do you can always hang around the inn with me and make fun of the tourists. I mean, it's all fun and games until one of them gets lost in the woods and Dad has to call out the park rangers so they don't get eaten by bears."

"I'll keep that offer in mind," Rose smirked.

"And if that doesn't sound like fun, I'm sure we could get some people together and go down to the beach and stuff," Emmett shrugged. "I'm sure Jake and the rest of our new rez friends could show us some cool hang out spots."

"Alright," Rose smiled. She suddenly felt something hit her leg and looked over, seeing one of Mrs. Cope's blankets had fallen slightly from the bed. With a sigh, she got up to fix it only to see Emmett's eyes going wide.

"Uh…Rose…" he began.

Rose looked over and gasped at what she saw. Ms. Cope's eyes had fluttered open ever so gently and she was looking around the room then attempted to sit up, bound back to the bed by all the machinery she was hooked up to. For a moment, Rose opened and closed her mouth like a fish, completely in disbelief at what she was seeing. Only after Ms. Cope let out a raspy groan was she shaken back to her senses.

"Emmett, go find a nurse or Dr. Cullen or _someone_," Rose insisted. As Emmett scurried out the door she tucked the blanket into the bed slightly. "It's alright, Ms. Cope. It's fine. Do you remember me? Rosalie Hale?"

"Yes, dear," Ms. Cope rasped out with a sad look in her eye, "I remember. Everything."

* * *

**Hope that was worth the wait.**

**End Note:**

_According to the National Education Association, there are approximately 2.1 million bullies and 2.7 million victims currently in the American school system. The NEA also reports bullying happens every 7 minutes on the playground and every 25 minutes in the classroom. Being as there is less supervision on playgrounds, bullying is more likely to occur there._

_The National Association of School Psychologists said there are three main reasons children become bullies: family factors, peer pressure and school factors. The frequency and severity of bullying is related to the amount of adult supervision that children receive, and bullying behavior is reinforced when it has no or inconsistent consequences. Bullies thrive in school environment where there are larger student to teacher ratios and where students are more likely to receive negative attention and feedback from adults than positive school climates. School officials who ignore bullying contribute to the increase of bullying in their school _

_Children who observe parents and siblings exhibiting bullying behavior, or who are themselves victims, are likely to develop bullying behaviors. When children receive negative messages or physical punishment at home, they tend to develop negative self-concepts and expectations, and may therefore attack before they are attacked—bullying others gives them a sense of power and importance._

_Because school personnel often ignore bullying, children can be reinforced for intimidating others. Bullying also thrives in an environment where students are more likely to receive negative feedback and negative attention than in a positive school climate that fosters respect and sets high standards for interpersonal behavior. Often times, bullies are uncomfortable with their own bullying behavior but are afraid they won't "fit in" or become targets themselves if they don't bully._


	23. Chapter 23

__**Thanks to dowlingnana!**

* * *

_Courage conquers all things: it even gives strength to the body._

_- Ovid, ancient Roman poet_

* * *

_Monday, May 5, 2008_

_4 p.m. – Forks Community Hospital_

"Well, Shelley, how are you feeling?" Dr. Cullen asked with a smile as the nurses worked to remove the monitoring systems from Ms. Cope that weren't needed. She was breathing fine on her own and though she was talking and said she hadn't lost her memory, the doctors still weren't sure if she was as well as she thought she was.

"Thirsty," Ms. Cope admitted.

"I'll get her something," Rose said, jumping up from her seat and going to get water from one of the plastic cups in the background.

She was back in an instant to find Dr. Cullen moving his finger back and forth while shining his flashlight in Ms. Cope's eyes. She was insisting the nurse's allow her to sit up and, after getting a nod of approval from Dr. Cullen, they helped her sit up against pillows they had propped up. Dr. Cullen ran his reflex hammer up and down the sides of her legs, feet and arms to make sure she still had sensation. A look of fear came over her face when he ran the hammer over her left arm. He stepped back cautiously and then asked her to flex her fingers. Rose saw Ms. Cope's fingers move but she looked frustrated.

"I can't…" Ms. Cope said fearfully.

"No… you're moving them," Dr. Cullen assessed, "but you can't feel that you're moving them. I think you have lost some sensation in that arm as the result of your wound. You may gain it back. You may not. It's a little too early to tell. But the fact that you're awake and talking is a miracle in itself. I'm going to want to run a few tests to see where we stand, but I think you deserve a rest before we jump into that."

"I've been resting an awful while," Ms. Cope smirked. "It might be better for me to get up and move around a bit."

"I'd still take it easy," Dr. Cullen said, before looking to Rose and Emmett, "though I wouldn't be opposed to letting you spend some time with your visitors: As long as things don't get too wild in here."

"Do you think you're feeling up to any visitors or do you want to rest some more?" Rose asked Ms. Cope curiously.

"I think I could deal with a few visitors," Ms. Cope smiled gently. "Why do you ask?"

"I think there are a few people who want to see you," Rose said, smiling at Emmett.

Within a few minutes, Ms. Cope's hospital room was crowded. Alice Brandon and her sister Cynthia came in and gave Ms. Cope a big hug followed by their mother. Bella Swan and her mother did the same. Jasper and his mother sat by Ms. Cope's bedside and gave her updates on her cats and her flowerbeds during the time she was unconscious. Esme Cullen brought by a big batch of homemade chicken noodle soup along with her son Edward. Charlie Swan and a few of the first-responders from that day dropped by after their shifts ended for a brief preliminary questioning but mainly to thank the woman who had alerted them to the situation in the first place.

It heartened Rose's spirits to see the tears in Ms. Cope's eyes as she read the big card Alice and Bella had made, full of well wishes from the many students at Forks High School. Never having children of her own, the students who came through the high school doors were like the children Shelley Cope never had. She even asked Chief Swan about what had happened to Jimmy Hunter and cried when she found out.

"Poor boy," she said. "He needed a lot more love than we could give him."

Of all the people who had been his victims, Charlie Swan couldn't help but note that Shelley Cope was the quickest to forgive her assailant. She confessed to him that she always did love the troublemakers the best, not just because they spent the most time in her office but because they were the ones who usually needed someone the most. If anything, Shelley Cope loved to be needed. She was determined to be back at her desk at Forks High when school started in the fall and before visiting hours were over, she let everyone know to be looking for her first thing when they reopened the school.

When Rose arrived home that evening, she was exhausted but happy. Ms. Cope's familiar face was something she needed. In fact, she thought everyone needed something good to look forward to when they eventually reopened the doors of Forks High School in the fall.

* * *

_Tuesday, May 6, 2008_

_3:30 p.m. - Forks Community Center_

The therapy group meeting was overtaken that day by the news that Ms. Cope had regained consciousness. Most of the Forks High students attending the Quileute school seemed relieved to see she had come through the darkest part of it, and despite the clamoring of various media outlets to get the story of the school secretary who had survived, Ms. Cope had only given one interview to a reporter with the _Forks Daily _who was also a former student. Since Ms. Cope's recovery was all anyone seemed to want to talk about anyway, Tia allowed the group to spend their session on that rather than the previously assigned topic, which was to take the signs of bullying they learned the week before and observe if they witnessed any of those signs during their day-to-day school routine. Tia decided that assignment could be given a few days longer and then began the discussion about Ms. Cope. Rose, naturally, was the one everyone turned to in order to get the ball rolling on the conversational.

"She's like…. a nice aunt or surrogate grandmother, I guess," Rose shrugged. "She's the first person you see every day at school and she's always smiling, even though things haven't been easy on her. She is polite to all the students and parents. She's just kind. She was sad about Jimmy, that's how nice she is. She really wished she could have helped him. If he had put down that gun for a second and listened to her I have no doubt she could have talked him out of it and helped him get the help he needed."

"Would you say she's sort of a role model?" Tia prompted.

"She should be," Rose said. "Even if Mr. Greene didn't listen to you, Ms. Cope would. She was like everyone's therapist. Sometimes… sometimes rumors about me… they would get so intense and I would just feel so terrible about myself… even though I didn't do anything." Whitney let out a scoff, which she tried to disguise as a cough as soon as Tia, Bella and Alice shot her glares. "I really… I just didn't want to face anyone… one time… Ms. Cope found me crying in the bathroom. She brought me to her office, talked to me, gave me tissues and a piece of candy, and then wrote a note for me to give to my teacher saying I had been on a special errand for her so I wouldn't get in trouble. It meant so much to me. No one had ever really cared about me like that outside my family before…"

"She's pretty awesome," Dean agreed. "I got the flu freshman year and was throwing up sick. I couldn't get a hold of my mom and my dad had this meeting he insisted was more important than picking me up from school. Ms. Cope threatened to drive me to his office herself so I could puke in front of his boss and let everyone he worked with know how terrible of a father he was. I was there five minutes later, and he's never put work over something that's important to me since."

"She's a good listener," Angela said embarrassedly. "And once when I was having… feminine troubles at school… she was really there for me."

"She's a lot stronger than people give her credit for," Jasper nodded. "I mean, we've lived next to her for years, but it wasn't until I was older that I realized how rough she's had it. She always wanted kids, but she found out she couldn't have them. And then her husband ran off with some young chick that could have kids. I mean, that had to hurt, but she didn't let it make her mean and bitter. She always gave out the most candy in our neighborhood on Halloween and she always brought Peter and me cookies over on our birthdays. Whenever someone is sick or had a baby or there's been a death in the family she's the first person there to comfort them, and usually she's bringing a casserole. If this had happened at any other school, she would have been the first there to comfort everyone. You know, here we all were so worried about her, and one of the first things she asked us the other night was how her cats were and how many people had been hurt. She's selfless."

"She knows most of the students by name," Edward agreed, "even the students who aren't the best at sports or the smartest or frequent fliers into the principal's office."

"I think she likes the troublemakers the best," Alec said. "I've been in that office a few times, and she's always clucking her tongue at me and telling me she knows I can do better. Believe me, it's nice to talk with her after Greene's spent half an hour chewing you out and calling you 'Allen' instead of your real name."

"It seems to me like she is a very good role model for all of you," Tia said. "I know I still have you all working on your assignment to see if you can identify the signs of bullying among your peers. I also want you all to think about being a role model – keeping Ms. Cope in mind – and what you should do to be a role model to people younger than you. You all will be seniors next year and are not only role models for the under classmen but younger children throughout the community. I want you all to think about how you can be good role models to these people, what mistakes you don't want them to repeat and I want you all to try and think of at least one person you might be a role model too. You'd be surprised who is watching you and copying your actions."

* * *

_5:30 p.m. – Brandon residence_

Alice found herself poking at her supper indiscriminately; separating the slices of beef and peppers her mother had worked to stir fry for the family. Tia's assignment was weighing heavily on her, especially as she watched her little sister across the table, scooping generous bites of noodles into her mouth. Between picking up Alice and Cynthia from their group session and coming home to make dinner, Ann Brandon had taken her girls with her to drop off a box of cookies and an array of shampoos and soaps at Shelley Cope's hospital room in order to make her stay more comfortable. Seeing Cynthia shyly give Ms. Cope a hug before they left and then babble on about school on the drive home had really gotten Alice thinking.

Sure, she wasn't a terrible big sister, but she probably could have been a better role model for Cynthia. They bickered and disagreed as any family members do, but Alice felt like she hadn't been there for her little sister as much as she could. Before the shooting, she had never come into Cynthia's room just to talk. She had never asked Cynthia about her day or her friends or if there were any boys she was interested in. She never offered to be her sister's shoulder to cry on and she had never really shown that she was interested in her sister's life. Alice thought back to their childhood.

When Alice was around ten, she had gotten so annoyed with Cynthia for "copying" her. If Alice wore purple, Cynthia immediately rushed back to her bedroom to put on something purple. Cynthia got whatever ice cream flavor Alice wanted. If Alice liked a movie, Cynthia liked it even more. It was pretty frustrating for Alice, who was starting to explore her individuality and wanted to show she was independent and trendsetting. After that Alice had an outburst that left Cynthia in tears regarding her mimicry, Ann Brandon had taken her eldest daughter aside and given her the "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" speech. Cynthia wanted to do everything Alice did because she just thought her big sister was the epitome of cool. She wanted to be like Alice in every way.

Of course, the sisters were inherently different. Alice knew the last thing Cynthia wanted to do was copy her every move again like they had when they were little. However, Alice knew she would only have one sister and she probably needed to be there for Cynthia. She wondered if anything she did had impacted her sister negatively and suddenly – and for the first time – felt a little guilty that her penchant for gothic dress and delight in being known as the "freak girl" might have earned her sister some undeserved ribbing. Cynthia had mentioned her friends bugging her about how Alice looked, but Alice wondered if maybe her sister was being bullied for her own appearance since she had a way of just letting those things roll off her shoulders.

When dinner was over, Alice played around on her computer, texted back and forth with Bella for a little while and then finally gave into her urges. She went across the hall to her sister's room and, though the door was ajar, she knocked before entering. Cynthia asked her in and Alice smiled to see Cynthia already in her pajamas, flipping through a magazine.

"What's up?" Cynthia asked curiously.

"Nothing, really," Alice said, sitting on the end of the bed. "I just wanted to talk."

"About what," Cynthia asked.

"I dunno," Alice shrugged. "Anything: What's going on with you?"

"Not much," Cynthia shrugged. "I'm not hanging out with Serena and Kate any more. That should make you happy."

"Why would it make me happy?" Alice asked, confused.

"They're what you call 'fake people' right?" Cynthia said. "Although, I don't really understand the phrase: Fake people to me means mannequins or wax statues or something."

"Why aren't you friends with them anymore?" Alice asked.

"Because what they did at the cemetery," Cynthia shrugged. "It was a pretty lame thing to do. I mean, I get that a lot of people are mad at Jimmy and stuff, but doing something like that… it's just disgusting, you know? I mean, what if they were your family? Serena's been a bitch about it. She doesn't understand why people are mad at her. Kate said she's sorry, but… I don't know…"

"Well, if she's sorry maybe you should give her a chance," Alice said, having a hard time believing the words that were coming out of her own mouth. "I mean, people do stupid stuff. Maybe Kate was lucky that she got caught, you know? So she'll learn from her mistake."

"Hopefully," Cynthia agreed. "So, how's your _boyfriend_?"

"He's not really my boyfriend," Alice blushed. "I mean, yeah we went out Friday…"

"And you're always texting him or calling him and talking with him at school," Cynthia rolled her eyes. "Come on, Ali, I'm not blind. In fact, I think someone who _is _blind could probably sense there's something going on between the two of you."

"He's really nice," Alice gushed. "Incredibly sweet: And funny. I mean, he's shy at first, but once he opens up he's just the greatest. I think you'll like him."

"So you intend on having him around here more often," Cynthia smirked.

"If he wants too," Alice said.

"Yeah, because I'm sure he'd say no," Cynthia snorted. "Seriously, sis, he has to like you. Otherwise, why would he let you talk his ear off all night when he could be playing video games?"

"Come on," Alice snorted, playfully pushing her sister.

"I'm glad you're happy, though," Cynthia said, "even if you aren't going to shut up about him anytime soon. Of course, you're not as bad as you were."

"As bad as I was?" Alice asked.

"I'm not deaf," Cynthia shrugged. "He's all you'd ever talk to Bella about. And you are always looking for him in the hallways and stuff… I'm surprised he never noticed."

"Oh God," Alice said, embarrassed. Cynthia laughed, making Alice laugh as well.

"But he does seem nice," Cynthia said. "I'm sure Mom and Dad will make you invite him over for supper or something soon."

"Hey, Cyn," Alice said, "you know if you ever need… to talk about anything… I'm here for you, right? I mean, I know there's stuff I don't feel comfortable talking about Mom with… and definitely stuff I feel uncomfortable talking about Dad with…."

"With three women in the house you think the man wouldn't be so freaked out by a box of tampons," Cynthia shook her head. "The other day, a box of them fell from the top shelf of his and mom's closet and he screamed like it was a snake or something…"

"Right," Alice chuckled, "but you know you can talk to me, right: About anything?"

"Do you think I'm hiding something from you?" Cynthia asked, confused. "I promise you, I'm not depressed, anorexic, on drugs or binge drinking. And I'm still a virgin. Oh, and I'm sexually attracted to boys. So, I guess I'm not a lesbian."

"Uh… okay…" Alice nodded. "I just meant… if you ever need me, I'm here, okay?"

"I know, Ali," Cynthia laughed: "Just thought I'd make you sweat a little."

"So, do Mom and Dad know you're a heterosexual virgin?" Alice asked.

"Eh, I'll let them sweat it out a little bit," Cynthia shrugged. "And Ali?"

"Yeah," Alice asked.

"If you ever need to talk," Cynthia smiled, "you can talk to me too."

* * *

**End Note:**

_A study by Temple University using MRI technology scanned the brains of 14 to 18-year-olds in a study of peer pressure involving people playing a car racing video game. The study found adults and college students were more cautious with the game. However, young teenagers were 40 percent more likely to do risky moves on the race track and 60 percent more likely to crash their video game car if their friends were present. The study found that younger teens are more likely to engage in risky behavior just by knowing their friends are present in the room rather than being alone. _

_Male bullying tends to taper off after age 15 and female bullying after age 14, and though most bullying occurs during the middle school years, not all bullying happens within this age range. More studies are being done about adult bullying, particularly relationship bullying and workplace bullying. Most of the time, adult bullies were bullies as children or were bullied as children._

_Like child victims, adult victims of bullying can experience stress, depression, mood swings, and loss of sleep, fatigue and low self-esteem. Physical health conditions can also manifest ranging from anxiety to heart troubles to headaches, decreased immunity to disease, and digestive problems._


	24. Chapter 24

__**Thanks to dowlingnana!**

* * *

_It is easier to build a strong child than to repair a broken man_

– _Frederick Douglass, American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman _

* * *

_Tuesday, May 20, 2008_

_8:40 a.m. – Quileute Tribal School parking lot_

Following a week and a half of tests, therapy and the supervision of all the doctors at the hospital, Ms. Cope had finally been allowed to return to her home. Dr. Cullen had ordered her to physical therapy twice a week. Mary Whitlock had volunteered herself and her two sons to help Ms. Cope out around the house, driving her to and from appointments, and anything else she needed done. Peter had finished his exams at U. Dub and was now home for the summer, so he had been driving Ms. Cope back and forth from her appointments in the past week. Of course, it was Rosalie Hale who was over just about every afternoon, with the exception of Tuesday and Thursdays spent between the hospital and her group sessions at the community center.

Rosalie had been the first in a seemingly never-ending parade of former students and parents who had come to visit Shelley Cope that first weekend at home. Enough lasagnas, casseroles, and desserts had been brought over to feed an army, and Ms. Cope sent most of them home with Mary Whitlock as she had two growing boys who would probably be better at eating up all of the dishes. Ms. Cope had delighted in all the visitors that weekend and again promised she would be at her usual post at the high school whenever the New Year started. The mayor of Forks had given her the Civilian Service Award and the Clallam County Board of Commissioners had passed a special resolution honoring her bravery. Both awards would be presented in June meetings when Ms. Cope was well enough to attend.

With the entire hubbub about the seemingly miraculous recovery of the school secretary, the 5 p.m. school board meeting that Monday was almost forgotten about entirely. It wouldn't be until the Tuesday edition of the _Forks Daily _came out that most in the area even knew the board had voted unanimously to fire Greene and replace him with Carmen Estevez on an interim basis. Charlie Swan, one of the few people actually at the meeting, had enjoyed meeting Estevez and thought her no-nonsense attitude was just what the people of Forks needed. She had cut her teeth as an assistant principal at a notoriously tough high school in Seattle before taking over as principal at a Port Angeles middle school that had been struggling with the lowest test scores in the county for six years. Charlie hoped the board would choose to hire Estevez full-time at Forks High, or at least keep her around until Bella graduated.

Needless to say, Harold Greene wasn't very happy about the arrangement. It was obvious to Charlie Swan by the man's reaction at the school board meeting that he hadn't anticipated he would be fired. At the most, it seemed Greene had been anticipated a slap on the wrist followed by one of the state-administered sensitivity workshops. Greene hadn't taken well to being replaced by a younger educator, especially a woman who wasn't from the local area. However, there was a small minority of people within the city of Forks who were for keeping Greene on as principal and most of them were either his friends or people without children. Most agreed Greene would have done better to be concerned about keeping his job long before he was informed that he was losing it.

"So, what do you think?" Emmett asked the assembled crowd as they gathered around the issue of the _Forks Daily_Edward had brought to school with him that morning. Just about everyone had read the article about the new principal and Edward had passed his copy of the paper around to his friends several times before it was given back to him.

"I think she'll be good," Rose said. "We need a ball buster around here with guys like Doug who think they rule the school."

"Ball buster is good…but you don't think she'll end up…" Jasper began.

"A bitch?" Rose finished for him with a shrug. "I don't thinks she's the type to get people in trouble for doing nothing, but just from what she told the reporter she sounds like she doesn't take shit."

"She's supposed to be a high school principal, not a primary school principal," Alice pointed out. "She can't be all warm and bubbly. She has to be tough."

"My dad seems to like her," Bella noted. "He met her at the meeting last night and he thinks she's what we need. And it takes a lot to impress Charlie Swan anymore."

"Yeah, and let's face it, anyone at this point is better than Greene," Edward agreed.

"Some of the guys on the team are worried about her ruining their senior year, but they're the ones who can't help but get themselves in trouble anyway," Emmett shrugged. "Speaking of senior year, I won't be a senior next year if I don't start studying for that math exam. You gonna pitch in after the session this afternoon and help me out, Cullen?"

"Sure," Edward laughed, "as long as you don't keep freaking out about seeing letters in your math book."

"It's math," Emmett snorted. "It's supposed to be numbers. Whoever threw letters into it is just trying to mess with us. So, anyone other than me and Cullen got hot plans tonight?"

"Hospital night," Rose said. Alice and Jasper exchanged a sly look and Bella smiled in spite of herself, knowing they were planning on hitting the diner after the therapy session was over. The two had grown especially close in the past couple of weeks.

"Dad has a rare day off today, so we're probably going to do something family-related tonight," Bella admitted.

"The Chief deserves a break," Emmett agreed.

"Yeah, but his break doesn't have to entail picking me up from school this afternoon and driving me to therapy," Bella grimaced. "Apparently, he doesn't think it's safe to let me drive my truck all the way down here on curvy roads."

"Charlie Swan just loves his baby Bella," Alice teased.

"Hey, it's _your _driving he's critiquing by picking me up since there's no other options," Bella said.

"Why isn't he making you ride the bus," Edward asked.

"He has a lower opinion of school buses on the road than he does Alice," Bella shrugged.

"Hey!" Alice said, just as the bell rang.

"Well, time to commence our education for the day, my friends," Emmett chuckled.

* * *

_3 p.m. – Forks Community Center_

Tia's session that afternoon began in its usual fashion. She had been on them recently about doing good deeds for others and the group had gone around the room talking about one good thing they had done for someone else in the past week. Angela had felt compelled to share something she had written in her journal about how she saw less and less of the members of her father's church exemplifying Christianity through good deeds and had barely finished when a knock came on the door. Tia, as if expecting the interruption, answered the door and was followed in the room by a tall, curvy Latina woman who matched the picture on the front page of the day's paper.

"Everyone, this is Carmen Estevez who will be serving as the interim principal for the high school next year," Tia introduced her. "She came by today to introduce herself and speak with all of the students taking sessions here, but she particularly wanted to talk with all of you since you are the same grade as Jimmy Hunter and will be the next class of seniors at Forks High School." The group murmured their hellos as Mrs. Estevez nodded to them and took an empty seat that Tia provided them.

"Hello everyone," Mrs. Estevez said, crossing one leg over the other as she sat before them. "My name is Carmen Estevez and I have been hired as the new interim principal at Forks High School. I suppose I should introduce myself a little to you all. I received my bachelor's degree in education from San Jose State University in California and my master's from the University of Washington. I have been married for twenty years to my husband, Eleazar Estevez, who works in insurance, and we have twin daughters named Lucy and Maria who will be starting sixth grade at Forks Middle School when I begin my term here as your principal. I know you all are just a sampling of the class of rising seniors, but I think it is important for me to introduce myself and let you all know that I understand this has been a difficult time for all of you. I hope I can help you all not only in your roads to recovery but also have the senior year you all deserve."

Tia encouraged them to go around the room and introduce themselves, give a little background about themselves and what type of extracurricular, sports and clubs they were involved in at school. Mrs. Estevez listened patiently, smiled and nodded as each student took their turn. After patiently waiting for everyone to finish their turn, she allowed Tia to continue on with the remainder of the regular session. With fifteen minutes left, Tia turned the session back over to Mrs. Estevez and asked the group if they had any questions for the new principal.

"Do you know if they're opening up the school or where we will be going next year?" Angela asked.

"The plans aren't definite yet," Mrs. Estevez said, "but I have heard talk that they will remodel the main building. I think they are hoping to hold some sort of meeting before the end of the month to get some student and parent input on the remodel. Since it is mainly an interior job, it should be finished by the fall."

"How are school policies going to change?" Jasper asked curiously. "I'm sure they're going to make at least some effort toward reform regarding after this… but what sort of things are they going to put in place to make sure something like this doesn't happen…"

"Yeah, like metal detectors or locker searches?" Dean asked.

"I meant more like anti-bullying policies and stuff," Jasper pointed out.

"I can tell you there will be no metal detectors," Mrs. Estevez said. "There isn't enough money in the budget for it. There was barely enough money to hire a full-time school resource officer, but this incident sort of pushed the hand of the school board, so they had to find the money. As far as policy, they are still working to rewrite and amend the countywide policy. I can assure you I will have a zero tolerance policy for bullying and I will be asking the staff and faculty at Forks High to take any allegations – no matter how trivial they may seem – seriously. That is not to say anyone is guilty until proven innocent, but there will be repercussions for actions. And since I am now acting principal, one of my first acts will be to set up a series of in services and workshops for our teachers this summer about bullying, mental illness and school violence. Zafrina, who is the head of the sessions here, has agreed to help us out with those."

"When do all these new bullying policies take effect?" Emmett asked.

"As far as I'm concerned they're in place right now," Mrs. Estevez replied. The group was quiet after that and, after finding no one had any further questions, Tia dismissed the session but hung around herself a little to talk with Mrs. Estevez.

* * *

Following the meeting, Rose had headed straight to the hospital for her shift while Emmett and Edward had set up in one of the empty conference rooms at the community center to start studying. Alice and Cynthia decided to wait with Bella in the parking lot for her father to pick her up and Jasper decided to wait until Alice left before going home as well. They had all sat down on the stairs leading up to the building and Cynthia and Bella exchanged knowing smirks as Jasper and Alice made a furtive attempt at hand holding under the long sleeves of their respective shirts.

"So… what did you guys think of the new principal?" Cynthia asked curiously.

"She seems nice," Bella admitted.

"Much more on top of things than Mr. Greene was," Jasper agreed.

"She' a little intimidating," Cynthia admitted, "Although I think most of that was intended toward Kate because she knew about the cemetery incident."

"Why not Serena," Alice asked. "She was involved, too."

"Serena dropped out of these sessions after that happened," Cynthia replied. "Her dad is still making her go see a therapist in Port Angeles once a week, but her mom refused to let her come back here for whatever reason. I think losing her daughter made Mrs. Katz a little whacky. I mean, she's gone off the deep end more than any other parent in town who lost their kid."

"I think she just likes the attention," Jasper scoffed. "I think it's kind of sick that she's using Victoria's death to draw attention to herself. It's always about my daughter and my grief and my problems. It's like she thinks Victoria was the only person who mattered in this whole thing. And I'm sure she doesn't even recognize that Victoria's actions probably played the largest role in this whole thing. I mean, I don't want to blame her for what happened, but she could have handled Jimmy with a little common decency."

"Victoria or Mrs. Katz," Alice asked.

"Both, to tell the truth," Jasper sighed. "Vicky was pretty much a bitch to Jimmy after they broke up, but she took lessons from the queen bitch."

"You really don't like her," Cynthia smirked.

"Yeah, well you hang out with the woman at a pizza parlor for two hours and tell me how high your opinion of her is," Jasper snorted. "She made them move our booth because the people who sat in it before us 'looked poor' and she didn't want to catch their germs."

"I'm sure when they call poverty a disease they don't mean literally," Bella snorted.

"Jimmy had a hard time when she said that," Jasper recalled quietly. "His face fell… he couldn't look Vicky's mom in the eye the rest of the night. I mean, he lived in the same trailer park as the people from that booth. They were neighbors. It bugged him and he talked about it for days afterward. I tried to remind him that Mrs. Katz hadn't worked a day in her life and was living off her husband's alimony and child support, but he didn't want to hear it. I stopped seeing him around so much after that. I think he really tried to change for Vicky, but it's hard to make yourself into something you just aren't."

"If she'd really loved him she wouldn't have wanted him to change," Alice shook her head. "She wouldn't have tolerated her mother being so judgmental toward him and she wouldn't have started judging him herself toward the end."

"It's hard not to judge people. We all do it," Jasper shrugged. "And we're all afraid of it…I just… I don't want to be judged for being Jimmy's friend, as awful as that sounds. I don't know why it's so easy for people to forget Jimmy was a pretty normal guy before all this because I'm having a hard time seeing how someone who seemed as normal as he was could do that. I mean, yeah, he was more messed up than most of us, but who wouldn't be with his dad?"

"Yeah, but is Mrs. Katz really any better than Jimmy's dad?" Bella pointed out. "I mean, maybe she didn't beat up Vicky and maybe she doesn't hit Serena, but my dad couldn't believe the way Mrs. Katz was screaming at Serena that night after the cemetery incident. He said she was throwing every name in the book at her daughter when the whole thing had been her idea. And dad said Serena just zoned out, like it happened all the time."

"Well, we all saw Mrs. Katz chew Vicky out that one time in middle school right after they had cheerleader tryouts," Alice recalled. "Remember, they had them in the gym the same night as the book fair and Vicky messed up a little…"

"And her mother screamed at her but she ended up making the team anyway?" Bella nodded. "I kind of wondered if the coach didn't put her on the team because she felt sorry she had such a terrible mom."

"I guess it's not that different," Jasper admitted. "I mean, Jimmy's dad would use insults and his fists… but sometimes I think it was the words that hurt the most. After your own father calls you a lazy, no good son of a bitch so many times you kind of start to believe it."

"Jazz, it's good to hear you talk about him more," Bella admitted. "I mean, I guess we're all afraid to ask because we don't want to hurt your feelings or bring up bad memories, but I think it's important that someone remembers who he was before all of this."

"Thanks Bella," Jasper smiled. "It's good to talk about him. It's getting easier to talk about him the more I do it, too."

"And… your dad has never called you a lazy, no good son of a bitch, right?" Alice clarified.

"No," Jasper rolled his head: "Though he did call me Short Stack until I grew the same height as him."

"Being the baby goes hand-in-hand with embarrassing nicknames," Alice smirked at her sister. "Right Snuggle Bunny?"

"Sure thing, Alikitten," Cynthia shot back as a Forks Police Department Police cruiser pulled into the parking lot.

"Well, that's my dad! Better go!" Bella replied before heading off to her father's car.

"So… to be fair…" Jasper asked as Bella slammed the car door and then waved goodbye, "what is Bella's childhood nickname?"

"Bellaboo," Alice said.

"Belkins," Cynthia nodded.

"…and Twinkle Toes," the two sisters laughed together.

* * *

**End Note:**

_About 80 percent of 21-year-olds that were abused as children met criteria for at least one psychological disorder according to a study done by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The same study found about 30 percent of children who are abused and neglected will later abuse their own children._

_Between 30 and 60 percent of all child maltreatment cases involve substance abuse, according to the Child Help Foundation. Adults who abuse alcohol or other drugs are three times more likely to abuse their children and four times more likely to neglect their children than non-abusers. The National Institute on Drug Abuse found as many of two-thirds of those in the U.S. currently being treated for drug abuse have some record of being abused or neglected as a child. _

_A study undertaken by the U.S. Department of Justice found 36 percent of all women and 14 percent of all men currently incarcerated in the U.S. were abused as children. The study found children who are abused or neglected are 59 percent more likely to be arrested as a juvenile, 28 percent more likely to be arrested as an adult, and 30 percent more likely to commit a violent crime that non-abused children. _

_More than five children a day die from the result of child abuse and 80 percent of children that die from the abuse are under the age of 40. It is estimated that 50 to 60 percent of these deaths are not recorded as child abuse-related deaths on the child's death certificate._


	25. Chapter 25

**Thanks to dowlingnana for keeping me on track!**_  
_

* * *

_A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down._

_- Arnold H. Glasgow, American humorist_

* * *

_Wednesday, May 21, 2008_  
_1:55 p.m. – Quileute Tribal School Library_  
Edward Cullen could have named many places better for studying than the Quileute Tribal School Library. The lack of funds for the library meant most of the books were old or out of date, some books that the Forks High Library and other local libraries had donated to the tribal school when they no longer used or wanted them. The most recent set of encyclopedias in the library were a set of World Books from 1982 that had Volumes M, R, and U-V missing. The one computer desk boasted three machines made sometime in 1998, making them nearly 10 years old, and all of the tables in the room had at least one leg an inch shorter than the others. The only valuable resource Edward could find in the whole library was the aged librarian who looked like she had probably personally witnessed the past 2,000 years though it was doubtful she remembered them. She occasionally called the Quileute students by the names of their parents or grandparents and would ask loudly "what're those white folks doing in my library?" whenever a Forks High student wandered in.

But the most annoying thing about the library to Edward was that it also served as the La Push Public Library. It was in a building by itself on the campus, but there seemed to be a constant flood of people coming in and out to check out books, movies or just chat with the ancient librarian. Edward couldn't believe that such a small tribe appeared to be such prolific readers. He had caught at least thirty people coming in and out from the community to get books on his first day alone. When he mentioned it, however, Jacob said that some of the Quileute's couldn't afford their utility bills. They would come to the library and spend all day reading for the air-conditioning in the summer and the heat in the winter.

No matter the high level of noise and distraction, it was study hall and Edward had promised Emmett he would help him study for his upcoming math final. Sure, it seemed a little irrational to skip class in order to study, but at this point Edward was pretty much reading to ditch the library in favor of the most likely more quiet parking lot. However, the library meeting place hadn't been his idea but rather Emmett's. Though Emmett had proven to be much different than Edward's personal stereotype of the dumb, bullying jock, it still amazed Edward that a guy like Emmett McCarty would be willing not only to be seen with the likes of a nerd but openly asking said nerd for studying tips. Of course, Edward had learned during their previous session the day before that Emmett was a bit more concerned about his studies than he let on.

"Hey, dude," Emmett said, setting his books down on the table beside Edward. "Sorry I'm late. I'm still getting lost in this place. You'd think it wouldn't be so hard to find the building across the quad but I found myself in the gym and the groundskeeper's storage shed before I stumbled into this place."

"No problem," Edward nodded. "So, we did equations, inequalities, graphs and function, systems of equalities and inequalities… what's next?"

"This stuff…" Emmett said, handing Edward his review worksheet.

"Polynomials, factoring, and fractional expressions," Edward nodded.

"I have no clue what that means, dude," Emmett admitted.

"I don't think it matters if you know what they are as long as you can do them for the test," Edward shrugged. "Are your worksheets following the books?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Emmett nodded.

"Good," Edward said. "If you get a handle on this stuff like you did yesterday we can advance to powers and roots. That way, we'll have more time for the bigger stuff, like complex and imaginary numbers, quadratic equations and functions, coordinate…"

"Whoa, whoa,… there are imaginary numbers now?" Emmett said, horrified. "Dude, it was bad enough when they started putting letters in my math problems. Now this? Ugh!"

"It's not as difficult as it sounds," Edward said. "Besides, my dad told me once you get past basic math in college they pretty much let you do the majority of this stuff on the calculator rather than requiring you to work it out on scratch paper."

"Show your work is like the worst phrase ever," Emmett nodded, "but I need to pull off at least a B minus and I'm setting pretty at a C plus right now, so lay it on me numbers man."

"So… why's the B minus your goal?" Edward asked curiously.

"Dude, I'm not a straight-A guy. Not in math, at least," Emmett shook his head. "A solid B would probably be pushing it at this point."

"I think you could do better," Edward shrugged. "And I think it's good that you want the better grade even though you could be coasting by on a C."

"I can't coast with C's, man," Emmett shook his head. "I gotta get my GPA up as high as possible. I've got scholarships, man."

"Scholarships," Edward said, surprised.

"I know you're smart and all, but your dad's also a doctor," Emmett said. "My folks run an inn, which is profitable if the tourist season is good, but most of the time it's barely scraping by. There is no way they can keep that place open and put me through school. My best chance is an athletic scholarship, and those don't come easy. You have to have good grades and extra curricula's in addition to being stellar on the field, especially since so many people apply for them. I mean, I love my folks but I don't want to get stuck running the family inn like my dad did."

"He seems to love his job," Edward shrugged. "He always seems happy about it when he talks about it. Besides, if he doesn't like it, why doesn't he just sell it and do something else?" Emmett looked sheepish for a bit. "What?"

"He can't just sell it," Emmett said. "It's not even the whole family legacy crap… my dad… he didn't finish high school. His mom got sick and he had to drop out, get his GED and go to work. And mom couldn't afford to go to school. She got a scholarship, but they didn't have as many community colleges back then and Seattle was too far away… she couldn't afford to live on campus, even with the scholarship, so she gave it up and waitressed until my parents got married…"

"So, they didn't go to college?" Edward verified.

"Yeah, dude," Emmett sighed. "That's why it's so important I go, you know? I'd be the first in the family. My parents were supposed to be the first, but life sort of got in their way, so now it's all on me, you know? I mean, I know it's supposed to be about my future and everything, but I really want to do it for them. And in order to go, I'll have to get a helluv a lot of scholarships."

"Well, what have you looked into scholarship wise?" Edward asked curiously.

"Nothing yet," Emmett admitted. "I'm just trying to get junior year taken care of. I figured I would start worrying about that when I started applying for colleges in the fall…"

"It's never too early to explore your options," Edward replied. "And even without football scholarships, there are plenty of scholarships they offer for first-generation college students. If you want, I could help you look into all that."

"Really, dude? That would be cool," Emmett agreed.

"But first," Edward said, "how about we tackle your algebra worksheet?"

* * *

_4:05 p.m. – Tillicum Park_

Jasper and Alice were quite surprised to see the city's only small park vacant on an atypically warm afternoon, but then again the light drizzle of rain just before school let out and the predicted thunderstorm for the night meant most would be staying away from the park for fear of a sudden downpour. The playground area was empty, though most of the equipment was covered in water. Jasper was ready to use the flannel shirt he had tied around his waist to dry off the two seats on the swing set, but Alice had already sat down on one of the swings, seemingly uncaring that it was wet. He smiled to himself and then took a seat on the swing next to hers, watching as Alice gently propelled herself back and forth with her feet.

"So, pepperoni or sausage," Jasper asked.

"Sausage," Alice shrugged. "Pepperoni is too spicy. You?"

"Meat lovers," Jasper admitted.

"Could you ever go vegetarian?" Alice asked.

"Could try it for maybe like a week, but I think the call of meat would be too strong for me to try it full time," Jasper replied. "You?"

"Tried it for like a week in sixth grade," Alice said, "but yeah, after that point the double bacon cheeseburgers do start calling your name."

It was a nice little game the two of them had been playing to get to know each other better. Some of the information was surprising, but mostly they were just surprised to see all the things they had in common with each other. Alice had suggested hanging out at the park after school once she dropped Cynthia off at home, and Jasper had readily gone along with it. Recently, Jasper had found himself going along with pretty much anything Alice asked, though he was hardly embarrassed by this fact. He was quickly becoming closer to her than anyone

"Lamest family vacation?" Jasper suggested.

"Ugh, once my parents, grandparents, aunt and two uncles all went on a cruise to the Bahamas, but they left Cyn and me with our half-deaf Great-Aunt Millicent because we weren't 'old enough' to go. She lived in a tiny condo with her five cats outside Hoquiam. The woman couldn't cook, but she wouldn't order a pizza so we ate Jell-O and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a week. And she wouldn't go outside, so we were stuck inside watching game shows and 'Maury' and 'The People's Court' with her. It was so boring."

"Well, Maury is kind of like a game show to see who's the father," Jasper laughed.

"What was yours?" Alice asked.

"Peter will totally deny this if you ask him, but Mom and Dad decided when Peter was eleven and I was nine we had to make the grand family road trip to the Hoover Dam," Jasper said. "My dad may be a military man, but he gets lost pretty easily and so that he doesn't get lost, he likes to drive for impossibly long stretches of time. And because he hates breaking for anything, he makes us all get on a bathroom break schedule when we're traveling. Well, Peter had this huge bowl of chili at this diner and about thirty minutes down the road, he said he needed to use the bathroom. Dad wouldn't pull over. Five more minutes passed, and he complained again, but Dad wouldn't pull over. Five more minutes and he's saying he's really hurting and even mom is trying to get Dad to pull over, but he won't. Then, five minutes after that, Peter crapped his pants."

"Oh my God," Alice laughed.

"The worst part was Dad still wouldn't stop after that," Jasper said. "I had to sit in the back seat with Peter and his crap-filled pants for another thirty minutes before Mom harangued Dad into veering off his pit stop schedule so Peter could change into some clean pants. I still bug him about it. Whenever he's going on a long trip, I always ask him if he has an extra pair of pants and underwear."

"I'm sure he loves that," Alice laughed.

"Hey, we younger siblings are at a natural disadvantage when we're younger, so we latch on to what we can," Jasper shrugged.

"Was it hard for you when he went to college?" Alice asked.

"Some things were harder than others," Jasper said. "I missed seeing him and having him close enough I could talk to him all the time. At first he came home every weekend, but then it was every other weekend and his second semester, he rarely came out at all. I felt a little betrayed at first that he didn't always want to come back and hang out and when he did come back he spent a lot of times with his friends instead of me, but now I sort of get that he's kind of getting older and moving on. I wouldn't say we aren't as close as when he was in high school, but I think we have more of an adult relationship."

"Yeah:" Alice nodded.

"And now that he's back for the summer, I am realizing there are some advantages to having him away at school," Jasper said. "It's nice not having to share a bathroom and not having to fight with someone over the last piece of pizza or cake. Of course, it's also nice that he's back so I'm not the only one picking stuff up for Mom at the store or having to get things off the top shelf for her…" Jasper grinned, "Why are you asking? Thinking about leaving me?"

"Nah," Alice shook her head, "but I am thinking about Cynthia. I only have one more year left at home, possibly one more year under the same roof as her… And I worry about her. I worry about her making the right kind of friends or getting involved in the wrong stuff. I worry about her not applying herself, not getting into college or getting pregnant or something. I mean, I know it isn't exactly my place to worry and she has to live her own life… but she's my baby sister. I still kind of remember going to the hospital the day she was born and sometimes it's hard reconciling that little dough ball in the fluffy pink hat with my almost fifteen-year-old sister. I love her and I want the best for her. I want to encourage her, but I also want her to find the right way on her own. Does that make any sense?"

"Yeah," Jasper agreed. "You want to see she's making the right choices, which she can take care of herself. It's natural. Peter still worries about me taking care of myself. I think the fact that I'm all Goth and kind of stick out as natural prey for the jock-types has always worried him. He doesn't want to change me because he wants me to find my own way in life, but at the same time he wants me to be happy and not get beat up every day."

"I think I'd be relieved if Cyn started dressing all in black and doing the Goth thing," Alice admitted. "I'm more afraid of her turning into one of those blonde bimbo Stepford wives-in-training who defines herself based on who she's dating or what label she's wearing or how many calories she puts into her body. I don't know. Maybe my definition of what's best isn't what's best for her. I think I want her to be more like me, even though I'm sure that's the last thing Cyn wants."

"It's important that you care," Jasper shrugged, "and that you support her because she's your sister."

"You're really smart," Alice grinned, "and I think Cyn would be happy to know you're encouraging me to let her be her own person, even if it isn't the person I would necessarily choose for her."

"Well, I'm glad you're like you," Jasper smiled as he leaned forward and gave Alice a kiss.

* * *

_4:32 p.m. – Shelley Cope's Residence_

"Now, Rose, dear you don't have to get all those heavy tins out of the cabinet…" Shelley Cope clucked her tongue as she slowly shuffled into the kitchen.

Since leaving the hospital, Rose had noticed Ms. Cope's movements were not as quick as they had been before. Her reaction time was slower and she walked and moved around a lot slower than she had in the past. She still had the same twinkling in her eyes, the same warm smile and her verbal and conversation skills hadn't changed a bit, but her hands were a little shaky and she often had to lean on something to support herself as she stood up. Rose wasn't sure if this was a side effect of her injury or if it was more subconscious, something rooted in the fear and terror of that day. Everyone else had more than a month to recover from the shooting, but Ms. Cope had only awoken recently. She hadn't had the luxury of time, frequent counseling sessions, and intense personal reflection like everyone else had.

"It's alright," Rose assured her. "I've got it. So, baked chicken… vegetables… what else?"

"Some nice fruit and rolls," Ms. Cope said, pulling the cans of vegetables and mixed fruit out of her pantry, "and perhaps a little something for dessert. Sound alright?"

"Sure thing," Rose grinned.

"I know I've told you before, but thank you for coming over to help me with supper, Rose," Ms. Cope said. "It'll be nice to have some people in the house."

"Oh, it's no trouble," Rose insisted. "My mother admits she isn't much of a cook herself, and she gets so frustrated trying to teach me. I think it's because she and I are very similar. At least, that's what my dad says. I've never had the patience to learn things from my mother, so my dad had to teach me everything: how to tie my shoes, how to ride a bike, driving…"

"It was so nice of you to invite your parents over tonight," Ms. Cope nodded. "I do love having the company. It's always nice to have people over."

"I just hope they don't regret letting me cook the meal," Rose said. "I think your guidance is going to come in handy."

"It's important for both girls and boys to learn how to cook," Ms. Cope said. "Why, when I first moved out of my parents' house when I was eighteen, I had no idea how to make anything but cold cut sandwiches. I ate nothing but sandwiches and instant oatmeal for a month before I broke down and bought my first cookbook. I set the stove on fire a few times and the smoke alarms went off about once a day in my apartment, but it was worth it. And there is nothing as satisfying than cooking for someone else, I think."

"Hopefully I can get in some good practice," Rose nodded.

"Tell you what, you and me should get together once a week for cooking lessons," Ms. Cope suggested. "Wednesday nights since you are at the hospital: How does that sound?"

"Great," Rose grinned. "Although, I don't know if the two of us will be able to eat all that food every week."

"If nothing else, we can take them next door to the Whitlock boys," Ms. Cope said. "I swear, once those boys hit puberty they would finished up eating at home and then would come over to get second helpings from my kitchen under the guise of 'checking to see if I needed any chores done.' They are sweethearts, though, and took very good care of my kittens."

"They are pretty surprising," Rose nodded.

"And I just think it's so adorable that Jasper's sweet on that Brandon girl," Ms. Cope said. "I saw them at the diner last weekend and he just had the biggest grin on his face. Believe me, plenty of young ladies flocked around here back when Peter was in school, but he never had such a look on his face about any of them."

"They are pretty good together," Rose nodded.

"And what about you sweetheart," Ms. Cope grinned. "Any special fella in your life?" Rose blushed, not just because of the question but also because she felt a little embarrassed about discussing her love life with Ms. Cope, a woman who knew all about having her heart broken.

"No," Rose said. "I'm kind of focusing on getting into college at this point."

"Well, if your bedside manner with me was any indication, I think you're going to make a wonderful doctor, but you don't have to put living your life on hold to pursue your dreams," Ms. Cope said. "I think it's just as important for you to have that typical teenage experience as it is for you to achieve your goals."

"I suppose," Rose nodded.

"And that Emmett McCarty seems like a nice boy," Ms. Cope commented offhand. "He was very sweet about bringing me sunflowers and asking after me."

"He was," Rose said, biting her lip.

"Well, now," Ms. Cope smiled, "how about we begin baking that chicken?"

* * *

**End Note: **_**Admittedly, this has more to do with a recent conversation with a juvenile judge friend of mine than this story.**_

_In 1970, America had the highest high school graduation rate in the world. Today: the U.S. ranks 19th in graduation rates out of all nations. Only 70 percent of America's high school students – approximately 65 percent of boys and 73 percent of females – graduate high school in four years. Every year, approximately 1.3 million students drop out of school. That averages to 7,000 students dropping out of school every day. _

_Studies have shown again and again that education is one of the leading factors in preventing youth from turning to crime. The Alliance for Excellence in Education found 75 percent of America's prison state inmates and 59 percent of its federal prison inmates did not attain a high school diploma or GED diploma. Offenders without a high school diploma or GED diploma are twice as likely to reoffend. _

_Increasing college graduation rates among males by a mere 5 percent could save the U.S. nearly $8 billion in revenue every year. A 10 percent increase in males graduating high school would reduce the country's murder and assault rate by 20 percent, motor vehicle theft by 13 percent and arson crimes by 5 percent. _

_About 5 percent of high school drop outs are categorized as "academically gifted." Students typically drop out because of life events (pregnancy, mental illness, drug addiction, caring for parents or siblings etc.), becoming frustrated or bored with school, failing to succeed in the school environment after several attempts. Students have also reported they felt they were "forced" to drop out by school administrators who perceived them as "difficult, dangerous or detrimental" to the school and felt "subtly encouraged" to withdraw from classes._


	26. Chapter 26

**Thanks to dowlingnana**

* * *

_People do not lack strength; they lack will._

_- Victor Hugo, French writer_

* * *

_Thursday, May 22, 2008_

_1:55 p.m. – Quileute Tribal School Library_

Emmett was again studying with Edward in the school library, this time joined by his friends Tyler and Eric who were also studying for their shared AP History exam. Edward had fallen seamlessly into friendship with Tyler and Eric, and Emmett was glad all of his new buddies were getting along. The day before, Edward had given Emmett some practice problems to work on overnight, and Emmett was presently waiting for Edward to finish grading his work. While he was waiting, Emmett found the familiar figure of Dean Lucas approaching his table. Dean looked pretty nervous, especially when all four faces looked up at him when he asked if he could take the vacant chair.

"Sure, dude," Emmett said. Dean took the seat and looked around at them nervously. "What's going on man?"

"Has coach talked to you today?" Dean asked worriedly.

"No," Emmett said. While the teachers had not been required to follow students to the Quileute School, some had and Coach Pettry had been one of them. He was helping out with the gym classes since the mere two Quileute coaches were overwhelmed with the new influx of students from Forks. "What's going on?"

"He's on the warpath, apparently," Dean sighed. "He's got Steve Wells, Doug and Logan with him right now. Or at least, that's what Kirk and Conner said. They weren't sure what it was about but two of the Quileute teachers were with him and Kirk and Conner said Coach looked pretty mad."

"That's it?" Emmett shrugged. "I don't know… Maybe it's about next year…"

"If it's about next year why is he bringing in Steve?" Dean shook his head. "I mean, Steve's graduating next week… he doesn't need to know about what's going on next year."

"I don't know," Emmett said. "Coach has his reasons. Just let him handle it and hope you don't get called into it next."

"You don't think it's about the online stuff, do you?" Dean asked Emmett quietly, drawing the curiosity of Tyler, Eric and Edward who until that point had virtually ignored him.

"It could be," Emmett shrugged. "If they are stupid enough to leave a paper trail or post everything on line where everyone can see it, then they deserve whatever trouble they get into. Maybe I can deal with it, but they might have pushed someone else too far."

"You think coach will cut them from the team?" Dean asked worriedly.

"Steve has like a week left," Emmett pointed out. "I really don't think he can get cut at this point. Besides, try outs aren't for two weeks and between you and me, Doug needs to lay off the powdered donuts unless he wants to go for linebacker this year."

"Man, you football guys gossip more than the freshmen girls," Tyler shook his head.

"You'd be surprised what gets said in the locker room," Dean snorted.

"I honestly don't want to know," Edward said before turning to Emmett. "Whenever you want to go over this sheet let me know."

"Well, see you around, Dean," Emmett said. "I've got to study."

"Math?" Dean said, scrunching his nose up at the paper. He then looked to Edward. "Hey, Cullen, you charge for tutoring or what?"

"He doesn't…" Emmett began.

"Emmett's a friend so he gets it for free," Edward said. "Ten bucks and hour for you and an additional five if you cause me trouble."

"That's kind of steep," Dean said.

"You find someone else at this school who'd be willing to tutor you after the crap you've put them through," Edward snorted.

"I'll think about it…" Dean nodded, before getting up and walking away.

"So, when he comes to you desperate for math knowledge, you gonna teach him wrong or something?" Eric asked.

"No," Edward said. "Sharing knowledge isn't something that should be taken lightly. And the last thing I want is for him to put it around that I'm a lousy tutor. But I wouldn't mind charging him extra."

"Charging him extra?" Emmett asked.

"Well, he can't do math," Edward shrugged, "so odds are he doesn't know how to settle up his tutoring bill either."

"Diabolical," Emmett smirked.

* * *

_2:35 p.m. – Quileute Tribal School parking lot_

"Did you hear what happened?" Cynthia bounced up and down in the backseat of her sister's car.

"Pigs flew and my Dad's getting me a Corvette?" Bella asked curiously.

"They're canceling finals?" Alice asked.

"No," Cynthia shook her head. "Coach Pettry kicked Logan Wilson and Doug Meckler off the team. And Steve Wells isn't getting to walk at graduation."

"What?" Alice and Bella exclaimed at the same time.

"How did you find this out?" Alice asked.

"I heard it from Kate who heard it from Garrett Porter and Rob Sawyer who are on the junior varsity team and in her English class," Cynthia explained. "All of the guys on the team were talking about it this afternoon, apparently."

"What happened?" Bella asked.

"They were talking trash about some of their teammates on Facebook and then they started talking trash about this Quileute kid…" Cynthia began.

"Seth Clearwater?" Bella asked.

"No… some kid named Colin…" Cynthia shrugged. "Anyway, the kid printed out all the stuff they were saying about him and turned it over to his homeroom teacher who gave it to the principal and Coach Pettry to look over yesterday. Colin told the three of them he had turned him in and they beat him up, and then they went home and started making threats on Facebook about the teacher, talking about how they would 'deal with' him and stuff. I mean, they were probably joking around, but after what happened they're taking everything so seriously now… anyway, they didn't realize Coach Pettry was monitoring their Facebook accounts and he confronted them about the threats to other students and the teacher… He kicked Doug and Logan off the team and since Steve is graduating, they decided not to let him walk during the ceremony."

"Wow," Bella said.

"How stupid do you have to be to post threats against anyone, let alone a teacher, online?" Alice shook her head. "That's almost as dumb as giving your social security number out over the internet or slashing your own tires."

"I can't believe Steve would screw up so close to graduation," Bella shook her head. "He had one week to go and he ruined it."

"That's not all," Cynthia said. "They're calling the county sheriff and the head of the Tribal Police down to talk to them after school today along with their parents, even though Logan's the only one who is technically a minor. And Mrs. Estevez is supposed to be coming as well. They're in hot shit."

"Cyn," Alice exclaimed.

"Dad says it all the time!" Cynthia whined. "And you think it's funny when he says it."

"It's still not a nice thing to say," Alice shook her head.

"You're just on edge because Jasper's coming over for dinner tonight," Cynthia smirked.

"Oh, really?" Bella grinned.

"It's not the first time," Alice pointed out.

"I know it's not the first time, but I think it's interesting that it's the third time in the past two weeks," Bella smirked.

"Well, now that his brother is home from school he doesn't feel so bad about not spending time in the evenings with his mother," Alice shrugged. "And I'm going over there later on this week…"

"Alice and Jasper sitting in a tree," Cynthia began chanting.

"Cynthia Elise Brandon, so help me I will pull this car over and force you out!" Alice huffed.

"Fine, Mary Alice Brandon," Cynthia smirked. "Besides, you know I don't mind Jasper coming over. I hate broccoli and he eats it all, so there's no leftovers."

"Be glad you don't have a little sister," Alice murmured to Bella, who just laughed.

* * *

_3 p.m. – Forks Community Center_

The entire group had heard why Logan wasn't at their group meeting by the time Tia got things started. It was a little surprising how quickly their group had dwindled with first Doug being banned and then Logan possibly getting kicked out for his own acts of bullying. Tia didn't seem to make any reference to Logan's absence, but it was quite possible she hadn't yet been informed of it. She instead launched into a lecture to them on how to handle different types of bullying, writing information down on the board and allowing them to copy it into their notebooks if they wanted to.

The more studious members of the group including Rose, Bella, Angela, Edward and Ben copied everything down word for word while Emmett and Alice found themselves trying to pay attention but mainly doodling in their notebooks as they were both preoccupied, Emmett with the newest scandal surrounding the football team and Alice with thoughts of Jasper. In fact, Jasper himself was doodling in his notebook but he was doing so out of a mix of boredom and artistic inspiration. Of course, Jasper's doodling was not as extreme as Alec's, who Ben Cheney had noticed hadn't copied down anything from the board but was instead intensely focused on shading the large marijuana leaf he had drawn behind the head of a stunningly accurate Bob Marley. Dean also seemed to be off in a world of his own, but for obvious other reasons.

Tia seemed a bit stumped as to why the group was not their usual chatty selves during the meeting, but seemed to dismiss it as the students being concerned about exams. She did ask if any of them had anything they wanted to share, but the open comment period was greeted only with shakes of heads and murmurs. A little baffled, Tia dismissed the group early, which she had never done before, and went about wiping the board and readying the room for use by the next group – a lady's knitting club that met about thirty minutes after the counseling sessions were over.

Jasper and Alice hung back to talk and wait for her sister's group to let out. Bella walked out with Angela and Ben, chatting with them about an upcoming final. Whitney, as per usual, also raced off to her car and Alec just disappeared. Emmett decided to walk out to the parking lot with Rose since the two of them hadn't really seen or talked to each other much that day. He knew she would be in a hurry to get to the hospital, but he still wanted to spend a small amount of time with her. Rose, for her part, nodded when Emmett asked to walk her to the car, blushing because of what she and Ms. Cope had talked about earlier in the week.

"So, how is Ms. Cope?" Emmett asked.

"Doing well," Rose said. "I was over there yesterday and she taught me how to make baked chicken. She's going to teach me cooking stuff every Wednesday. I think she enjoys being able to pass on her knowledge to someone and I can't exactly rely on fast food and Ramen when I go off to college. It would be nice to make myself something home cooked every once in a while."

"Yeah," Emmett said. "I'm useless with that stuff. I'll probably have to rely on care packages from my mom when I run out of pizza money. And it's good to know Ms. Cope is doing well."

"You should stop by and see her sometime," Rose said. "She really appreciated those sunflowers you brought for her. And it really cheers her up to see her students. Or really get any visitors. I don't think she got many before all this happened…"

"Sure," Emmett said: "Maybe this weekend? I don't want to stop by and interrupt anything."

"Saturday might be good," Rose said, "though that's usually when Mrs. Whitlock sends Peter and Jasper over to help out around the house, so you might get wrangled into mowing the lawn or cleaning out the gutters or something."

"No problem," Emmett said. "Ms. Cope seems like the type to pay the hired help in cookies, which is more than I get from my own Mom. Well, Mom might have mentioned something about clothing, feeding and sheltering me, but I kind of started tuning that out when I was five or so…" Rose laughed.

"She does tend to pay people for their kindness in baked goods," Rose mused as they came to a stop in front of her car.

"Well, have fun at work… or volunteering…" Emmett said. "What should I call it? I mean, it's not work because you aren't getting paid, but have fun volunteering sounds weird: Though not as weird as saying have fun at the hospital. Because, you know, the hospital isn't generally where you go to have fun."

"You're right about that," Rose said. "Luckily, we're back to our usual stuff. You know, elderly patients, kids with peanuts stuck up their nose… the occasional logging accident."

"Don't hate on kids who stick things up their noses," Emmett said. "That's how Dr. Cullen got to know me as well as he does."

"I'll be sure to tell him you and your nose say hi," Rose laughed. She and Emmett stood there awkwardly for a moment before Emmett pulled her into an even more awkward hug. He held on for a little bit longer than he should have and Rose was blushing bright red when he finally got the hint and pulled back. "So, see you tomorrow."

"Bye!" Emmett said. He watched as her car pulled out of the parking lot and then turned around abruptly only for the figure behind him to send his heart racing. "Jeez, Lucas, you shouldn't creep up on people like that. You training to be a cat burglar or something?"

"Sorry man," Dean shrugged. "I didn't want to interrupt your… whatever is going on between you and Rose Hale…"

"What about it?" Emmett challenged him.

"No judgment dude… she's an okay chick," Dean said, backing off. "I guess you heard about what happened?"

"Yeah, so?" Emmett shrugged. "They were stupid and deserved it. What more do you want me to say?"

"I just… I never agreed with them totally, but I don't want to get wound up in this too," Dean shrugged.

"You should tell Coach that, not me," Emmett replied.

"Yeah, but if Coach comes to talk to you…" Dean began.

"If Coach comes to talk to me, I'll tell him the truth and I expect you'll do the same," Emmett interjected. "If you dug yourself into a hole, I'm not lying to get you out of it."

"But we're a team…" Dean began.

"Yeah, but if someone on the team does something illegal or something that hurts someone else, that doesn't mean I have to lie for them or pretend like it's okay," Emmett said. "Why are you bringing this up to me anyway?"

"Dude, everyone knows they're going to vote you captain next year," Dean shrugged. "Even without what happened, it would have been you. And Coach isn't putting up with it anymore because I think he feels guilty about Jimmy… about not doing more to step in or realizing how much shit people on the team were getting into."

"I still think you'd do better to tell Coach all this," Emmett said. "If you come clean with him I'm sure he'll have a lot more respect for you than if you try to bribe people into vouching for you."

"I get it," Dean sighed.

"You're not that bad a guy," Emmett assured him. "You just chose to make really shitty friends."

"Thanks," Dean frowned. "I think."

* * *

**End Note:**

_A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center said only 7 percent of parents were aware their child had been bullied online, though the number of teenagers who admitted to being bullied online was closer to 33 percent._

_Cyber bullies spend on average 38.4 hours online a week as opposed to the average student, who spends only 26.8 hours online a week. The study found 31 percent of cyber bullies also admitted to sexting while only 19 percent of teens overall admit to sexting._

_The survey asked cyber bullies why they bully others. Their response: __To show off to friends (11%) __To be mean (14%) __To embarrass them (21%) __For fun or entertainment (28%) __They deserved it (58%) __To get back at someone (58%) __Something else (16%)_


	27. Chapter 27

**Thanks to dowlingnana!**

* * *

_Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend._

_- Albert Camus, French philosopher and writer_

* * *

_Saturday, May 24, 2008_

_10 a.m. Cullen Residence_

Studying for exams and his recovering arm had prevented Edward from really devoting himself to his piano practice. His parents had given up on providing him lessons when he was about fourteen as he had surpassed the knowledge of any of the local teachers, so now it was up to Edward to practice and learn pieces on his own. He didn't have too hard a time teaching himself new music, and usually he was fairly good about setting aside several hours a week to ensure he practiced. However, since the shooting he hadn't really been up to playing his piano as much. First, it had been because his arm still hurt but once he fell out of the habit, he found it pretty tough to pick back up again.

He knew his parents normally relied on him to be tapping out upbeat music on the piano. His father in particular enjoyed it when he played jazz selections, especially the ones with a good tempo. However, Edward wasn't in the mood for cheerful music. For some reason, Edward found himself in a grumpier than usual mood when facing his piano bench. He tried some Beethoven and a few chords from Mozart but eventually found he was pounding out some rather depressing renditions of Chopin's "Nocturnes." Edward had gotten through the sixth nocturne before he felt a presence behind him and looked over his shoulder to find both of his parents standing in the doorway, grimly listening. He sighed and took his hands off the piano, wondering what sort of feel-good talk they wanted to have with him now.

"It's good to hear you playing again," Esme smiled softly, walking across the room and hugging her son's shoulders. "I miss hearing you practice."

"Well, I figured I'd taken enough of a break," Edward shrugged.

"It's been a while since we've gotten you any new sheet music," Carlisle mused. "We could head down to the music store in Port Angeles later, unless there's anything specific you'd like."

Edward knew anything he wanted could be ordered online much easier, but his father seemed to enjoy the trips to the music store more than he did, so he let his father indulge in them. For his many talents as a surgeon, Carlisle Cullen had never developed the talent to play an instrument even though he did appreciate others who could. Sometimes it did embarrass him to have his father around, asking the store manager and employee inane questions or making comments about how various equipment works. However, Edward himself liked the atmosphere of the music shop and the people who frequented it, even if they didn't always have the wide selection of material he could find online without having to leave his home.

"That might be nice," Edward agreed.

"I have a few errands I've been meaning to run up that way," Esme smiled. "Maybe we could have supper at Michael's and just make an afternoon of it?" Hanging out with his parents wasn't exactly Edward's ideal way to spend his Saturday, but he wasn't about to pass up the surf and turf meal at one of his family's favorite seafood and steakhouse restaurants.

"Sure," Edward said.

"I'll throw together a quick lunch and we can head out," Esme nodded.

"I should probably go change out of my pajamas," Edward mentioned before slinking out of the room.

He sighed as he trotted off, hearing his parents go around gleefully as they prepared for the outing. Edward admitted he used to be excited about this "family days' together, but that had been when he was little and there were trips to the zoo or to the children's museum. Sure, he loved his parents, but the last thing he needed was to seem so uncool that his mom and dad were the only people who wanted to hang out with him. Of course, telling his parents they were uncool would only convince them they needed to be more cool and the last thing Edward needed was his dad brushing up on his rap lingo and his mother catching him up on what she was watching on MTV. He would have to grin and bear it and pray they didn't run into anyone from school.

* * *

_11 a.m. – Forks High School Spartan's Locker room_

Emmett rubbed his eyes sleepily, much like the rest of the team. Coach had called them all the previous day to inform them there was an emergency team meeting at eleven. Of course, one in the afternoon was too early for most of the team to wake up on a Saturday, especially during the off season, and so the players were basically falling asleep on each other on the locker room benches as they waited for coach to leave his office and get things started.

The remodel had apparently begun on the front section of the school now that the police had cleared the scene and returned it back to the school board. Thankfully, the football field and adjoining locker rooms were not very close to the school building and the team could meet and most likely practice over the summer without the constant noise and presence of the construction crew. Emmett didn't feel weird about being back in the locker rooms, though he suspected it would have been eerie to be back in the main building itself. He didn't know how he would feel about seeing it all again when they had completed the remodel.

The quiet chatter in the room settled down the second the door to Coach Pettry's office slammed open and the coach himself entered into the main locker room area. In addition to his usual clipboard he had a stack of papers tucked under his arm as he moved into his regular position in front of the room. He scanned the benches, mentally checking to make sure all members of his team were in place for the meeting. There was a noticeable absence on the left side benches in front of the three lockers that had belonged to Mike, Royce, Larry and Steve Wells. There were less noticeable gaps in the seats in front of the lockers Doug Meckler and Logan Wilson had once occupied.

"Pass this out," Coach ordered to one of the freshmen JV members who just happened to be sitting to his right.

The kid whose name Emmett couldn't really remember immediately began passing out the packets of paper as quickly as he could. Emmett took his own packet and then looked up at Coach in surprise when he read the title. Several other members of his team were doing the same, but Coach didn't seem to care what their reactions were. Instead, he just launched into an explanation of why he had called the meeting.

"Due to recent events that have come to light," Coach said, "many of you know that Wells, Meckler and Wilson were removed from the team. I chose to remove them after evidence was brought to me that they had been using their Facebook accounts to bully other students, both from Forks and from the Quileute School. I have also been made aware that other members of our team in the past have not displayed the Spartan Spirit and portrayed themselves as the role models I always urge you young men to be. I have spoken with Mrs. Estevez the new principal and she heartily approves this next step of action. IN the past, I have relied on all of you to be on your honor and act with sportsmanlike conduct both on and off the field, to act like gentlemen to both your opposing team and your fellow classmates."

"I'm sorry Coach… what exactly is this?" Garrett Porter asked curiously.

"It's our new football team code of ethics and conduct," Coach explained. "Each member of this team is to conduct themselves in a manner befitting the Forks High Spartan Football team and in a way that is helpful to their school, their family, their community and their city. I want you all to read this thoroughly, but suffice to say there will be no tolerance of any acts of intimidation, harassment, or otherwise ill conduct exhibited by this team in person, over the phone, or online. There are two copies: one for me to keep on file and one for you to take home to remind you exactly what I expect from this team. I recommend that each of you read this contract thoroughly before you sign, and I do not want any of you to sign if you do not feel you can live up to these standards. With that being said, it is now a requirement that anyone who is on this football team and wants to play an active role in Forks High sporting events will sign this contract. Any new players who make the team this summer will also have to sign the contract."

"If we don't sign, we're off the team," Emmett surmised.

"But I don't want any of you signing just to sign," Coach continued. "If you sign this contract and I find you are in any way in violation of this code of ethics, you will be removed from this team immediately."

The room was quiet with a thick air of tension overlaid in it. Emmett wondered curiously how many of the people in that room wouldn't be back because they wouldn't sign the document Coach had placed before them. Honestly, Emmett thought it was a pretty good idea. With all the trouble the team had encountered in the past with bullies, it was high time something was done, and he was glad for Coach wising up and taking the initiative. Not every coach would have done something like this. Many probably would have protested their team's culpability in the whole matter.

"I'm going to be in my office the rest of the day," Coach informed them. "If you have finished reading and want to hand this over, or just want to talk, I'll be available. If you need more time to look over this, then you can hand it to me at school next week." He took out a fistful of pens from his pants pocket and then placed them on the table in front of his office, giving them all a knowing look. He then headed back into his office, leaving the door barely ajar behind him.

Effectively dismissed, about half the team grabbed their stuff and headed out the door to go home and catch up on their missed sleep. Emmett, however, remained with the other half who stayed and were busy reading and looking over the contract they had just been given. It was all stuff he would have thought would be a given. There were rules about bullying, harassment both in school, off campus and online. Coach had the right to kick them off the team if anything incriminating was found on their personal Facebook pages, Twitters and other social media. He also wanted them to be bound by an honor code to help out the community, be there for classmates and set an example for other students about what being a Forks High Spartan was all about.

While the other guys were looking over each other's shoulders and pondering what to make of the new contract, Emmett stood up, went over to the table by Coach's office, picked up a pen and signed his name on the dotted line. He then pushed his way into Coach's office only for Coach to turn around in his swivel chair and glance up at him with a cocked eyebrow. Emmett chuckled to himself. It was Coach's signature look whenever he thought his team members were up to something mischievous, like getting ready to douse him with the water dispenser following a big win.

"Just thought I'd get this to you before I lost it," Emmett said, putting the packet down on Coach's desk.

"Glad to hear it McCarty," Coach grunted out. "Those fellas could do with some positive peer pressure, you know? Emmett was pretty sure he saw an actual trace of a smile on Coach's face, but he didn't say anything about it.

Instead, Emmett turned to head out of the room. He had just enough time to grab a quick lunch before heading over to Ms. Cope's house and help out Rose. Upon exiting the office, Emmett found the rest of his teammates who had stayed behind lined up near the table by Coach's office to sign their own agreements or sprawled out over the lockers, benches and any other hard surfaces they could find to sign. Emmett chuckled in spite of himself, wondering why it had taken so long for the rest of them to make up their minds. Perhaps Coach had been right about pressuring them into doing the right thing for once.

* * *

_12:58 p.m. – Cope Residence_

It was hard to gauge who was more excited about Emmett's arrival at Ms. Cope's house that afternoon. Upon opening the front door, Ms. Cope was pleasantly surprised to find Emmett standing on her porch with a large bouquet of sunflowers and a big grin, acting almost like he was a young gentleman caller coming to see the young lady of the house. Ms. Cope immediately went to put the fresh flowers in a vase for her kitchen table and ushered Emmett in with her, bringing him face to face with Rose. Up until Emmett's arrival, Rose and Ms. Cope had been watching episodes of "Golden Girls" and discussing their favorite characters on the show.

When Ms. Cope returned from the kitchen, Emmett immediately asked to be made useful and was given the task of bringing in the heavy bags of cat food and kitty litter in from the garage where Peter Whitlock had left them when he had helped Ms. Cope bring in her groceries a few days before. When that was done, Emmett helped out Ms. Cope by using his height to water some of the hanging planters on her porch as she wasn't allowed to lift too much until she had passed the six-week mark. Rose knew she could have easily done all the watering and had in the past, but Ms. Cope seemed to be having a lot of fun bossing Emmett around.

"Anything else I can help you with?" Emmett asked with his big grin after he had helped Ms. Cope get down some rather large pots and pans she and Rose would be using later in their cooking.

"Well, no, but before you came over I was going to show Rose my old high school scrapbooks," Ms. Cope said.

"Scrapbooks," Emmett asked curiously.

"Oh, yes, when I went to school I kept a scrapbook every year," Ms. Cope nodded, going over to a bookshelf and pulling the three big books out from where they were sandwiched between old photo albums. "I put it together with pictures of my friends, programs from some of the school events I went to… a couple of write-ups about the football games mentioned in the local paper as well as my report cards and some other things."

"I wish I had thought to do that," Rose admitted as Ms. Cope laid out the four books on the coffee table. "I think it would be something nice I could do for senior year, though. You know, put one together so I can remember friends and things like that."

"You really went all out," Emmett grinned, taking a seat on the couch beside Ms. Cope. Rose was on the other side of Ms. Cope but she could feel how the couch sank and sagged a little under Emmett's football weight. Emmett, however, was more focused on the psychedelic scrapbook featuring pictures of flowers, the Beatles and Jim Morrison.

"I did start high school in 1968," Ms. Cope shrugged. "It was a pretty colorful time period." She turned and opened the book. "Oh, here is the program from freshman orientation. And this is my school schedule for that year…"

"Mr. Goodman was still teaching freshmen English then?" Emmett gaped. "I had him the year before he retired."

"Oh, yes," Ms. Cope nodded, flipping the page. "He started teaching there the year before I started going to school there."

"That's a beautiful dress," Rose said, looking at the picture on the next page.

"That's me and a few of my friends at the Homecoming Dance," Ms. Cope nodded. "That there is Sherry Peterson, although you probably knew her as Mrs. Brewer, the head of the Forks Public Library."

"And who's this?" Emmett asked, pointing to a picture on the next page.

"Oh, that's Johnny De Marco," Ms. Cope said dreamily. "I went with him for two years before I started seeing Mitchell Duncan. Johnny actually had the nerve to go out with one of my friends, Peggy, for about two months after I broke up with him. Of course, Peggy was a big believer in free love and they didn't last very long. Last I heard Johnny's living in Olympia with his family: We all sort of lost track of Peggy after she moved to California to become an actress."

"Were you with Mitchell long?" Rose asked curiously.

"Up until our sophomore year of college," Ms. Cope replied. "Everyone always thought it was so cute 'Mitchell and Michelle'… a lot of my friends were surprised when we broke up, but it was so hard to stay together even though we were at the same college. We just didn't see enough of each other. I think we always hoped we would reconnect, but I met Roger Cope my senior year and Mitchell met someone and then ended up moving to Yakima… Mitchell and I were one of the few couples that were together during our senior year and didn't end up married."

"Forks High has a reputation for that, apparently," Rose said, a little embarrassed it came out the way it did.

"Yeah, my parents, Bella Swan's parents… Coach Pettry and his wife…" Emmett said ticking off names on his fingers. "Your parents too, right Rose?"

"Yeah," Rose admitted. "They were in the same class as Mr. and Mrs. Katz… though I guess if you get divorced you don't count as a good example of a couple who got together in high school."

"Oh, believe me," Ms. Cope smirked, "I didn't go to high school with the goal of finding my husband there. It was different for some of my classmates… small town and all… but when I was your age I was convinced Mitchell was just there until I moved to Paris and fell in love with some handsome Frenchman named Pierre or Louis. Of course, I found out quickly you can't move to France on four years of French classes and a couple of savings bonds from your grandmother."

"You have to be realistic," Rose nodded.

"Yes, but not so realistic you don't have any fun," Ms. Cope sighed. "I suppose that should have been my key indicator about Roger. After we were engaged, we didn't have as much fun. It sort of felt like he'd netted me and now the wooing and romance part was over. Ah, well, c'est la vie."

"I don't know what that means, but right on," Emmett agreed. Ms. Cope laughed and Rose even giggled in spite of herself.

* * *

**End Note:**

_A survey conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison interviewed 373 students in grades 7-12 found females reported stronger peer pressure than males toward conformity (to peer norms) and social involvement, but the genders did not differ in perceptions of misconduct or pro-adult pressures._

_Youth peer education draws on the credibility that young people have with their peers. Research suggests that if people believe the messenger is similar to them, they are more likely to personalize messages and, with support, change their attitudes and behaviors. Because of this, if peer pressure is steered in a positive direction or youngsters are educated on how to deal with peer pressure and related behaviors they can learn to use peer pressure for good._

_Though it is often connoted as something negative, Peer pressure can also have positive effects when people are pressured toward positive behavior. Examples include volunteering for charity or excelling in academics or athletics. Positive peer pressure is most often seen in youths who are active in sports or other extracurricular activities where conformity with one's peer group is strongest._


	28. Chapter 28

**Thanks to dowlingnana**_  
_

* * *

_Let us not look back in anger, or forward in fear, but around in awareness._

_James Thurber, American author and cartoonist_

* * *

_Saturday, May 24, 2008_

_3 p.m. – Port Book and News_

Edward was never more relieved to find himself immersed in the smell of books. He had gone with his father to the music store where he had bought some new sheet music as well as a book about the Viennese Period of classical music they had on sale there. His father had looked around the shop with his usual amount of goofiness, making jokes about turning his stethoscope on the metronomes to make sure they were in time and chatting up the bemused college kid manning the counter. Edward's purchases complete, the two had gone to meet up with Esme where she said she was shopping only to find out she was trying on things at a lingerie boutique. Edward had quickly ducked into the bookstore next door as soon as he realized what type of shop his mother was in while Carlisle, trusting his son would stay in the store until his parents came for him, immediately charged into the store and greeted his wife with a not-so-subtle wiggle of his eyebrow.

Rounding the corner so he could head toward the science-fiction section of the bookstore, Edward quickly learned he wasn't the only person who was hiding out in a bookstore that afternoon. Renee Swan had begun seeing a therapist for her own personal self-image issues and Charlie Swan had gone along with her for a few sessions as a couple, all unbeknownst to Bella. Her mother's attempt at rebuilding her marriage had only come to light for Bella when she awoke Saturday morning to find her mother boxing up a good portion of her wardrobe and throwing away some of her underwear. Renee had announced as a way to start over with her husband she had decided she needed to throw out any outfit she had worn to see Coach Dwyer in and was set on getting a new haircut, manicure and wardrobe in an effort to not only make herself feel more self-confident but to also put in a little extra effort for her appearance for her husband's sake.

After donating the clothes, Bella found herself in the car with her mother on the way to Port Angeles. The two had gone to the salon where Renee had cut her hair into a shorter style like the one she had worn when she and Charlie were teenagers then gotten a mani-pedi. Bella only allowed the hairstylist to trim off the dead ends and after prodding from her mother agreed to get her toenails painted a pearly pink. The two had gone to the mall for a quick lunch and Renee had gone shopping in the department stores and clothing boutiques. She also insisted on getting a couple of sundresses and a new swimsuit for Bella, who settled on a modest number her father would more than likely approve of even if her mother had encouraged her to flaunt more skin. However, when Renee set her sights on a trendy lingerie store, Bella had immediately flown into the bookstore next door to avoid having to try on anything herself or worse – give her mother opinions about what type of undergarments her father might find appealing.

"Uh… hi Bella," Edward said awkwardly as he nearly ran her over turning the corner. "So…uh… books?"

"Believe me, I would much rather be here than next door shopping with my mom," Bella said.

"Yeah," Edward said, still recovering from the fact that Bella had been able to make sense of his random, incoherent string of words. "I'm kind of in the same boat."

"Your mom drags you out shopping too?" Bella asked.

"More like it's the Cullen Super Fun Extra Special Family Bonding Time Outing," Edward rolled his eyes. "For once I'd like to be able to mention that I'd like something without it turning into a big to-do, let's go out as a family thing. Of course, when you're an only child…"

"Your parents' world revolves around you," Bella nodded. "At least we're getting a little bit of a break now, huh?"

"Yeah, I just had to remind myself I'm getting a good supper out of this," Edward sighed. "Especially when my dad asked the music store clerk if 'hip-hop is still the music the kids listen to:' Of course, I'm not very typical in that regard so maybe he does need to go elsewhere for information on popular music so he can embarrass his young patients."

"It's a dad thing," Bella shrugged. "At least he doesn't ask people if they have any marks on their driving record then run their license to see if they were lying."

"So…uh anything interesting," Edward said.

"Just a few things," Bella shrugged. "It's rare to get new books. Mom and Dad usually want me to get used stuff, but I'm wanting to read some of the lesser works of the Bronte sisters like their poems, iAgnes Grey/i and iVillette/i, but they're much harder to find in used stores. I don't know if it's because there isn't an interest in them or because people want to hang on to their old copies, but Mom said if I could find them here she'd get them, so I'm waiting for her to finish… trying on stuff… So… what are you here for?"

"Anything that is going to keep me out of the store with my parents," Edward said. "I'm just hoping I'm not here too long…"

The two of them talked about books for a few more minutes before Renee burst into the shop with all of her big bags, eager to tell Bella about her purchases even if her daughter didn't want to hear it. Renee grinned widely the entire time Bella said her awkward goodbye to Edward and then teased her daughter a little as the two of them made their way out of the bookshop and back to their car. Edward watched until Bella had disappeared into the passenger seat of her mother's vehicle and then went to peruse the bookshelves. It wasn't too long after that his parents returned, thankfully having put all of his mother's recent purchases into the trunk of the car. Carlisle and Esme happily picked out a few books of their own and then bought them along with the pair of books Edward had picked out. It was a mystery to the Cullen's why their son was so embarrassed to be seen with them in the bookstore until they returned to the family car. It was only in the confines of the vehicle that Edward managed to get up the courage to inform his father that his shirt was now on backwards.

* * *

_4:35 p.m. – Forks Diner_

Rose wasn't sure how she wound up at the Forks Diner that afternoon eating ice cream with Emmett McCarty, but she was pretty sure Ms. Cope had something to do with that. Feeling a little tired, Ms. Cope had ushered them out so she could take a nap and with nothing to do the rest of the afternoon, Emmett suggested they hang out and get a snack at the diner. Rose, who really didn't want to go back to her family's empty house, agreed. Now, she found herself eating a sundae while Emmett polished off the last of his chili cheese fries, sipped his milkshake and turned his attention to his slice of pie. One thing Rose never had understood about teenage boys was how they were always able to cram so much food into their bodies and not being worse for wear.

"Are you going to the graduation ceremony next week?" Emmett asked her curiously.

"I don't know," Rose shrugged. "I mean, I don't know anyone who is graduating really… and I don't know if I want to sit through the memorial they're planning…"

"A few guys from the team are graduating, so I kind of feel like seeing them off," Emmett shrugged. "It will be kind of weird though… I mean, there have been plenty of vigils and things… and I know it's been over a month now… but the thought of a memorial service at graduation still makes me… anxious, I guess. I mean, I know people want to remember their classmates, but at the same time graduation is supposed to be happy, not some occasion with this whole heavy sadness floating over it. And they already canceled the senior prom this year because it 'wouldn't feel right.' I don't know… I mean, I'm glad this wasn't my senior year, even if that sounds callous. It doesn't seem fair that they aren't getting a normal ending to their year…"

"It can't be helped," Rose shrugged. "And I guess you heard about the memorial they're planning for the school?"

"No, I hadn't," Emmett said.

"My parents were talking about it," Rose said. "They've got the memorial garden in the quad… you know, where they honor all the students who died in car wrecks or from illnesses before they could graduate? They're apparently thinking about building some sort of sculpture and a segment in the garden to honor all the victims…"

"But not Jimmy," Emmett surmised.

"To be fair, how long do you think people would let it stand up if they erected one to him?" Rose shrugged. "Grass hadn't fully covered the dirt of his family's grave site when they vandalized it."

"True," Emmett admitted. "I just wonder if years from now people would look at a memorial and realize what kind of people it's really honoring…"

"I just can't wait for summer," Rose sighed. "I just want school to be over so I can focus on putting this all behind me and getting ready for senior year and applying to colleges."

"So you want to forget?" Emmett asked.

"I don't think any of us can forget," Rose said, "but I want to move forward."

"I like the sound of that," Emmett agreed.

* * *

_5:45 p.m. – Swan Residence_

It was an odd Saturday evening at the Swan house. Of course, Bella didn't think it was odd in that it was strange but that it was odd that the entire family was home and seemingly having a good time together. There was joviality in the air Bella hadn't felt in her house or her parents' marriage for quite some time. Renee was humming and bopping along with the radio in the kitchen, making the family supper of fried fish and vegetables with chocolate mousse for dessert. Bella found herself in the living room with her father who was trying to teach her the basics of Texas Hold 'Em Poker for whatever reason. Once the meal was completed, they were going to watch a movie together as a family and then maybe play a few rounds of Gin Rummy if no one was tired.

"So, how was shopping with your mom?" Charlie asked.

"Good," Bella nodded. "I got some new books."

"Good," Charlie nodded. "I'm glad you got to spend some time together."

"How was fishing?" Bella asked.

"Pretty good," Charlie said. "Harry's thinking about selling his boat so he can get a newer model for the summer. I guess you can only put so much water seal on something before it sinks anyway."

"Probably a good idea," Bella grinned: "Wouldn't want it to sink with all of you out there."

"I did have an interesting conversation with Harry and Bill Black," Charlie mentioned. "Harry said his wife is pretty worried about Seth… something about him being bullied at school… The odd thing Harry said is none of this happened until the Forks kids started going to school there."

"Unfortunately, I think we brought it with us," Bella grimaced. "But I don't think the Quileute kids are willing to put up with it like a lot of the kids in Forks. They're more of a family there… at Forks… there's almost an us and them mentality between kids who are seen as popular and kids who are seen as unpopular."

"Hopefully, things will change," Charlie nodded. "You know, you and your friends could learn a lot from those Quileute students. Sure, they have problems but for some reason they work them out."

"I think it's because their parents don't tolerate them being as mean to each other," Bella shrugged. "I mean, they're all practically related so if you're mean to someone it's someone else's cousin or brother or something. Parents in Forks… it's kind of the same mentality with the kids in a way. I mean, when we were in third grade Mrs. Katz only invited kids to Victoria's birthday party if she liked their parents. For some people, it's not so much personality but how they've been taught by their parents."

"Knowing some of the parents I've met at PTA meetings: that's unfortunate," Charlie concurred.

"That's probably not even the half of it," Bella snorted. Charlie shuffled the deck and began dealing out the cards.

"So…uh… how's your mom?" Charlie asked.

"She's in the kitchen," Bella said, a little confused.

"No… I mean… how was she doing today?" Charlie asked. "I know she's been having a hard time lately… and you know… and I knew she wanted to buy some new things and clean out her wardrobe but… it was kind of strange to see her closet empty and then all those new bags… Are you sure she's doing okay?"

"She's fabulous," Bella laughed. "She was so excited today. She kept talking about fresh starts and blank pages and that sort of thing…She's really set on turning over a new leaf and making things right. Of course, I think she's a little nervous about it... But that's why we're here right?"

"Right," Charlie nodded. "You know, your mother and I haven't always been the best when it comes to communicating with each other. And I know you're just a kid and shouldn't exactly have to take on an active role in these sorts of things… but if there is something your mother and I aren't talking about… or that you think we need to tell each other… let us know? We aren't always the best at reading each other, but we are trying to be better for each other and for you."

"Sure, Dad," Bella said. "And may I make a helpful suggestion?"

"Sure," Charlie nodded.

"I know you're busy and stuff and I know Mom is really trying to make more of an effort to understand and do nice things for you…" Bella shrugged. "I think it really is the little things like when she makes you a plate for supper to warm up when you get home or when she has your favorite meal together after a long day at work… Maybe mom needs some little stuff too? You know… nothing big… like maybe picking up her favorite candy bar from the store or calling her when you get a break from work to let her know you're thinking about her?"

"You're a smart kid, Bells," Charlie smirked.

"Dinner's ready!" Renee called from the kitchen. Abandoning their card game, the pair got up and walked into the kitchen, Charlie giving Renee a kiss on the forehead before setting down at the table. Bella smiled to herself as she sat in her own chair. It might be a slow process, but her family was in the process of getting back together.

* * *

**End Note:**

_In addition to bullies and victims, most bullying situations also involve a third party: the bystander. While some bystanders do instigate, encourage or join in bullying actions most are passive, watching and doing nothing. These bystanders whether intentionally or not provide the audience the bully craves as well as the impression that the bully's behavior is acceptable._

_Why do bystanders not intervene? Answers from young people ranged from feeling the incident was none of their business, feeling powerless to stop it, fearing retribution, not wanting to draw attention to themselves, the fear of being hurt or victimized by the bully, and the fear that adults will not help or make things worse. _

_Sometimes, these bystanders feel pressured into bullying themselves so they don't become victims and can develop anxiety or a sense of powerlessness regarding bullying. In addition to being afraid that associating with the victim will make them as a victim as well, bystanders often feel guilt that they did not have the courage to defend the victim or intervene. _


	29. Chapter 29

**Thanks to dowlingnana**_  
_

* * *

_If you judge people, you have no time to love them. -Mother Theresa, humanitarian_

* * *

_Saturday, May 30, 2008_

_1 p.m. - Forks Community Center_

It was the first time in nearly fifty years the Forks High commencement ceremony had not been held on the school grounds. The school gym, auditorium and even the football field had often served as the location for the graduation ceremonies as the school typically had smaller graduating classes. However, this year school officials didn't want to let students and their families back on to the school grounds just yet. Even though renovations had already begun and it could have been arranged for visitors to the school to avoid the main hallway where the shooting had taken place, it was thought tasteless to let people back into the building so soon. Instead, the Forks High Community Center's gym was chosen as the location for the ceremony at the last minute.

Everyone was invited to attend the ceremony but special invites were extended to the families of the victims for the memorial service. All had responded save for the Wells family. As his sister had been killed and then Steve's own actions led him to be prohibited from walking during the ceremony, the family felt a bit affronted and decided not to show. However, they were the only ones. Eleanor Katz was there in all her attention-seeking glory, pleading her case to anyone who would listen. She would be back in court in June and though she tried her woe-is-me act, it seemed most people were over her emotional outbursts.

Emmett found himself sitting at the ceremony with Ben and Angela as none of his other friends had shown and most of his teammates were sitting with their own families. Charlie Swan was there, but Emmett saw no sign of his wife and daughter. They had discussed whether or not to go to the graduation ceremony during their group session Thursday. Rose and Jasper both didn't think they could endure a memorial. Edward, Alice and Bella didn't feel they knew anyone graduating well enough to justify being there, especially since there would most likely be a big crowd between the families of the graduates and those who were there to gawk at the memorial ceremony.

Following the usual opening with the parade of the graduates and opening remarks, there was a brief memorial video to honor the deceased along with a candle-lighting ceremony by members of the National Honor Society. The rest of the ceremony progressed normally, but by the time they reached actually handing out the diplomas Emmett was starting to wish he hadn't come. There was an overlaying sadness to the ceremony. Instead of people cheering and clapping upon graduating, a few students had tears in their eyes as they were reminded by the fact that some of their classmates would never graduate. A few parents of the victims had left during this part of the ceremony to avoid breaking down in public.

"So… that was depressing," Emmett admitted as he followed Ben and Angela down the bleachers following the ceremony. "I thought graduation was supposed to be a celebration, you know? I mean, I know it's not even been two months but…"

"It's unfortunately going to cast a cloud over their senior year," Ben nodded.

"I just hope they actually let us have some fun next year when we graduate," Emmett grimaced. "It's supposed to be a milestone, not a memorial."

"I thought some of those guys were your friends" Angela said, the accusation of hypocrisy thick in her voice.

"They were my teammates. There's a difference," Emmett said defensively. "I don't like all the guys on the team, but we have to work together. It's life. You may not like everyone, but sometimes you have to put up with them to achieve a goal greater than yourself."

"It's a tragedy and people still need time," Angela shook her head.

"Just because people need time to recover doesn't mean the entire senior class should have what small joys they have left in their final year sapped out of them," Emmett retorted. "If anything, they deserve to have a break from all the trouble."

"They could have cut them some slack," Ben agreed levelheadedly, earning a slight glare from Angela.

"Anyway, there's coach and some guys from the team," Emmett said, branching off from them. "See you around."

After hi-fiving and congratulating all of his football friends on graduating, Emmett headed back home for whatever Saturday afternoon chores his parents had planned for him. He didn't get far into town before he saw a very familiar car pulled over in the parking lot of a gas station that had been abandoned long before Emmett had been born. The hood of the car was open and the vehicle's owner was bent over it, giving Emmett probably one of the most delicious views he had seen in a while. He managed to draw his eyes away from Rosalie Hale's ass long enough to pull over beside her.

"What's going on?" Emmett asked, getting out of his car to help. Rose cussed and then came out from under the hood.

"Ms. Cope was out of milk… I was trying to get to the grocery store…" Rose sighed. "I thought maybe it was the engine, but now I'm thinking it's the battery. It's been a while since it was changed so…"

"Do you need a jump?" Emmett asked.

"Sure," Rose nodded. "I've got jumper cables in the back…"

Within a few minutes, Rose had hooked up the two cars with little help from Emmett, but when they tried to revive Rose's battery, nothing started. Rose tried a few more times before getting frustrated and ready to throw her jumper cables across the empty lot. Emmett felt a little helpless himself, but while Rose muttered and unhooked the cars, he came up with a plan.

"I'm guessing your battery's dead," Emmett began.

"No shit," Rose grumbled.

"Here," Emmett said, producing his cell phone. "Call Ms. Cope and tell her what happened and then call your Dad and tell him to meet us at the auto parts store."

"The auto parts store?" Rose said with a raised eyebrow.

"I'll drive you there and wait with you until your dad shows up," Emmett nodded. "Then I'll stop by the store and bring Ms. Cope her milk so you don't have to worry about that. Unless… you'd rather we wait here for your dad?"

"No… the store would probably be better," Rose said, taking Emmett's phone from him. "There isn't much worth stealing out of my car, especially not when it's left along such a busy roadway."

Rose made her calls as Emmett drove. It was about fifteen minutes before Rose's dad arrived to help her get a new battery and then put it back in her car. During that time, Emmett awkwardly relayed the details of the graduation ceremony to Rose who in turn gave him an update on Ms. Cope and her work at the hospital. When Mr. Hale arrived, he profusely thanked Emmett for taking care of his little girl and then beamed at Rosalie in pride about how she had taken to heart his lessons about knowing how to maintain parts of her car on her own. Mr. Hale headed into the store to get the right part, and Emmett was surprised when Rose didn't fall immediately behind.

"Thanks so much, Emmett," Rose smiled.

"No problem," Emmett shrugged, "and if my car breaks down, I'm calling you to fix it." Rose laughed and then much to Emmett's surprise gave him a big hug in thanks before heading in to meet her father.

* * *

_2 p.m. – Tillicum Park_

Getting out of the house was Edward's main priority for that Saturday. It was a beautiful and rare sunny day in Forks and Edward decided he was going to get out of the house and away from his parents no matter what. The Cullen's had been full of family togetherness in the past few days. Monday had been family movie night while Tuesday was game night. When his father worked a late shift Wednesday night, Edward found himself roped into baking bread with his mother. On Thursday night, his father had insisted they play a game of chess together while his mother ran errands and on Friday night his parents had taken him out to dinner at the Lodge to celebrate the final week of school coming to an end.

When he awoke Saturday morning, Edward was determined to get away from his parents' smothering. Sure, quality family time was important, but he was also a teenager and needed some personal time as well. He bitterly thought it was no wonder he had such a hard time making friends when his parents tried to monopolize every minute of his time for family reasons. He puttered around in his room the entire morning, snuck out for a quick lunch and then decided to just go out to the park on his own and maybe read. He had almost gotten out the front door when his parents appeared out of nowhere, wondering where he was headed to. Begrudgingly divulging his plans, he had to ward off his father's suggestion they turn it into a family outing with kite flying while his mother rambled through all of the picnic ideas she wanted to try out. Cornered and angered that they hadn't listened to his request to have some time to himself, Edward found himself stomping like a five-year-old and demanding that his parents leave him alone for once in his life. A little stunned at his outburst, Carlisle and Esme just stood in the hallway as their son ran out to his car put it in drive and then floored the gas, speeding out of the long driveway.

Edward's anger had mellowed somewhat when he finally arrived at the parking area at Tillicum Park. In addition to the group of families on the playground, Edward was surprised to find three of his classmates spread out on a blanket in the middle of the park. Jasper Whitlock was lying down in his typical black t-shirt and black jeans with sunglasses covering his eyes. Alice Brandon was sitting next to him in a multi-colored tutu skirt over her black leggings and paired with a t-shirt modeled after Van Gogh's "Starry Night." Alice was blowing bubbles, which were being swatted away by Bella Swan, wearing jeans and an old t-shirt with an unbuttoned flannel shirt over top despite the warm weather. Normally, Edward probably would have attempted to hide or just left the park faced with the fear of encountering school peers, but one of the things he had agreed to work on more in group was getting up the courage to make friends. Edward had only taken a step toward them when Alice noticed him and excitedly began waving.

"Hi Edward!" she shouted, motioning him over. Feeling more calm now that he was somewhat informally invited, Edward walked over and joined the rest of them on the blanket.

"Hi," Edward smiled nervously as he sat down.

"So, Bella did call you!" Alice grinned.

"What?" Edward frowned, looking at Bella curiously. "No… I was just…"

"Uh huh, I knew you'd chicken out," Alice huffed at Bella before turning back to Edward. "It was such a pretty day and I wanted to hang out, but Bella was afraid she'd be the third wheel if it was just me and Jasper since Cynthia's at the mall with some friends, so I told her to call you but I guess she chickened out about it."

"Well, he's here now," Bella blushed.

"Um… is Jasper okay?" Edward asked, noticing he hadn't moved.

"Ugh, he just fell asleep again," Alice said. "I'll wake him up." She elbowed him in the stomach and Jasper shot up, his glasses falling from his face.

"What happened? What'd I miss?" Jasper asked, looking around.

"Edward's here," Alice grinned chipperly.

"Hey man," Jasper said, sticking out his fist for what became an awkward fist bump.

"I'm going to have to work on that," Edward admitted, scratching the back of his neck.

"At least you didn't go in for a hug when I offered a handshake," Jasper shrugged.

"So, what's going on with you, Edward?" Alice asked.

"I'm avoiding another Cullen Family Fun Day," Edward shook his head. "It's like my parents fell into this 1950s world where families do everything together this week. I wouldn't be surprised if I went home to find mom baking like twenty pies and dad reading the newspaper in the living room with a pipe and slippers."

"Does your dad smoke?" Bella asked, surprised.

"No," Edward said. "In fact, he goes into full doctor mode around anyone who does. Let's just say the one time my parents took me to a carnival we didn't get past the gate for twenty minutes because Dad was trying to educate the carnies on the dangers of lung cancer."

"Oh yeah," Bella nods. "My dad goes into cop mode whenever he sees someone has a taillight out or their license plate sticker is overdue. I have no idea why it gets to him, but it does."

"My mom keys peoples' cars if they don't park within the lines in parking lots," Alice shrugged.

"Your mom is a little passive aggressive," Bella agreed.

"Am I the only person with normal parents?" Jasper asked curiously. "I mean, they kind of mind their own business?"

"Yeah," Bella, Edward and Alice said all at the same time.

"Okay, just checking," Jasper said with a shrug.

"Hey, Jasper wanna play Frisbee?" Alice asked, excitedly producing the disc from underneath her.

"Jasper's not a dog, Alice," Bella said at the exact same time Jasper said "Sure!"

The two of them ran off and Bella rolled her eyes before turning back to Edward. He had to chuckle at the site of Alice and Jasper, him in all black and her in Technicolor as they tossed the Frisbee back and forth, not seeming to care they were getting some odd looks from the parents in the park. Edward rolled his eyes, knowing those parents were probably gossiping about "teenagers" and how people between the ages of thirteen and twenty generally contributed to all of society's ills. They probably would judge Alice and Jasper just by looking at them, not realizing they were both honor roll students who never got in trouble and always did what their parents said.

"So, escaping the parental units for a day?" Bella smiled.

"Yeah," Edward blushed.

"Kind of know what you mean," Bella nodded. "My parents are on this repair our marriage kick because of… you know… I mean, I'm glad they're working things out… but at the same time it's a little gross to come down for breakfast to find them making out in the kitchen. I'm glad they're happy, but I honestly don't need constant evidence of it."

"At least your dad didn't go lingerie shopping with your mom last weekend," Edward said, pulling a face. Bella laughed out loud and Edward laughed in spite of himself.

"Oh, believe me, when I came downstairs the next morning my mom was singing while making breakfast and my dad kept calling her 'sugar,' and it was all I could do to not throw up my orange juice," Bella shivered. "I used to be better at ignoring it when I was little… probably because I really didn't understand exactly what made them so happy back then…"

"So, Alice and Jasper seem pretty happy," Edward commented as Alice tossed the Frisbee and then attempted to tackle Jasper before he caught it.

"I know," Bella smiled. "They'd be as disgusting as my parents if they weren't so sweet."

"Tell me about it," Edward laughed.

"You know, Edward," Bella said shyly. "I am sorry I didn't invite you out. I should have. Anytime you want to hang out… you can call us… me…"

"Sure," Edward grinned.

* * *

**End Note: **

_An estimated 20 percent of children between 13 and 18 will experience depression at some point. Approximately 44 percent of college students experience depression sometime during their studies. One out of every five high school students and one out of every four college students suffers from some type of mental illness._

_About 19 percent of young people contemplate or attempt suicide every year. Four out of every five of these young people exhibit known and clear warning signs for suicide._

_Suicide is the third leading cause of death for the 15-24 age groups and the second leading cause of death for the 20-24 age groups, yet more than two-thirds of young people do not seek help or talk to anyone about their mental health problems._

_It is estimated between 80 and 90 percent of those who do seek mental health treatment in some form return to functioning as well as or better than they did before developing a mental health issue._


	30. Chapter 30

**Thanks to dowlingnana**

* * *

_My family is my strength and my weakness. – Aishwarya Rai, Indian film actress_

* * *

_Saturday, May 24, 2008_  
_6 p.m. – The Lodge_  
After receiving a phone call from Bella asking if it would be okay if she had supper with her friends at Pacific Pizza, Charlie and Renee Swan had decided to go out for a nice dinner, just the two of them. As he maneuvered the family car into the parking lot, Charlie couldn't help but be happy that his wife had been the one to answer the phone. Renee was really encouraging Bella to make new friends. Charlie, however, was stuck on the fact that Alice Brandon had a boyfriend. Sure, Jasper Whitlock was a nice enough kid, but where Alice went Bella often followed and the last thing Charlie needed his only daughter to do at the moment was decide she needed a boyfriend of her own to keep up with her friend. Of course, he knew hanging out with kids her own age would be good for Bella. She was a bit of a homebody, like himself, and had a hard time making friends because she was shy. If she hadn't been desk buddies with Alice Brandon in kindergarten, Charlie didn't really know how his daughter would have survived all these years.

To make it a nice night out with the wife, Charlie had even opted to wear a shirt, tie and some slacks as opposed to his usual jeans and flannel get-up he wore when he didn't have to be in uniform. Renee herself had chosen one of the new dresses she had bought the previous weekend and had done up her hair and makeup. The two of them felt a little like teenagers on their first date as they drove to the lodge. Charlie turned the radio on to a classic rock station, and Renee reminisced as a song came on the radio the two of them used to listen to during their high school years. Charlie was surprised to see the Lodge wasn't filled up that night since it was graduation night, but he supposed a lot of the families had gone into Port Angeles instead.

The two of them were given a nice booth in the middle of the room. Renee giggled when her husband actually asked her what kind of wine she would like to order, surprised that he wasn't going to settle for his usual half a bottle of beer. Charlie got the steak and Renee ordered the cedar plank salmon, which was predictable but neither seemed to mind. Renee was in a more bubbly than usual mood, talking about all her plans for the summer. She was going to get her flower gardens going again and decided to try her hand at making homemade bread. Charlie noticed all of her proposed activities were things that would keep her around the house, but he didn't say anything. In fact, he noticed she preferred to have him, Bella or at least someone with her when she did leave the house, as if that would prevent her from making any mistakes.

He knew Renee had been talking with a therapist based in Seattle over the video chat program on the family computer. The past two times, she had him sit in on the meetings and the two of them were exploring the possibility of couples counseling. There were still emotional aspects of her affair they both had to work through. While Charlie didn't feel he had lost any trust in his wife, Renee had lost a lot of trust as well as faith in her own self. Charlie, rather than blaming his wife, was also blaming his own self and was harboring a lot of left over guilt about not being there for his wife. His own father was an abusive alcoholic and Charlie had always promised he wouldn't be like his old man, he wouldn't neglect his wife and he wouldn't make her feel bad about herself. However, in the course of his work he had done both of those things and was wondering if he had inadvertently chosen his career over his marriage.

The counselor had thought it was good the two were starting fresh and had promised not to bring up the past. Charlie was actually surprised they had come so far without Renee throwing the past up at him. When they had just been high school sweethearts, she had gone to cheer camp for the summer and in that time Charlie had a brief fling with a girl he worked with at the ice cream parlor. The two had "taken a break" for the summer, but Renee had still been devastated and Charlie had spent their entire junior year making it up to her. It was just high school, but Charlie had hurt a lot realizing how much he had hurt Renee that summer.

Then, when Bella was about two-years-old, the stress of doing grunt work on the police force, coupled with raising a mischievous toddler, had gotten to Charlie. He had spent a lot of time in the local bar after work with a lot of the rookies and there was one waitress in particular that had a thing for him. The flirting was harmless, but Renee didn't see it that way. One night, Bella was running a fever, had a diaper rash and Renee in a fit of stress drove to the bar to pick her husband up only to find said waitress flirtatiously leaning over the bar in front of her husband, cleavage on full display. Renee had pretty much snapped and cussed him up and down about shirking his duties as baby Bella had sobbed in her arms. That was the last time Charlie had hung out at the bar. It had taken months for Renee to be fully convinced there was nothing going on with the waitress and only after he had quit going to the bar for a about a year did she stop bringing the incident up every time they got into a fight.

He smirked to himself, thinking about how formidable his wife could be when she was angry. Especially with her hair trimmed short again, she still looked like the same bubbly high school girl and feisty young mother he had first fallen in love with. She always talked about her wrinkles, but Charlie never noticed them. They definitely weren't as pronounced as the ones he had earned while on the job and watching his daughter become a teenager. With her pearly white teeth gleaming in the dim lighting, Charlie admired her as she talked about how she and Bella were planning to go to this pottery-painting place when summer officially began. However, his admiration was short lived.

They were right behind her so Renee couldn't see, but Charlie had a full view of Phil Dwyer being led to a seat in the corner with a very young looking blonde on his arm. Renee had only really talked about Phil in the abstract, as if she almost believed him a figment of her imagination. She and Charlie both new they would have to run into him at some point. It was a small town, after all, but with the Forks High boy's baseball team having no tournament prospects and the shooting, Dwyer had made his own self pretty scarce. Charlie decided he must have been up in Port Angeles scouting out community college girls. Suddenly, Forks was feeling a bit too small for Charlie. He didn't want to run into Dwyer like this, not on what was supposed to be a nice outing with his wife in a fancy setting. Ideally, he would have pulled him over for speeding, broken his taillights and maybe found some weed in the car. Of course, he hadn't put too much thought into the scenario.

Charlie earnestly tried to listen to Renee, but he couldn't keep his eyes off the couple in the corner of the room. There was no way the blonde sitting with Dwyer was that much older than the high school kids he taught and legal adult or not, there was no way Charlie would have let his daughter out in such a slinky dress. He sort of wanted to go over and check the girl's ID to make sure she wasn't one of Dwyer's high school students. Of course, that might alert Renee that Dwyer was there and he didn't know what would happen if his wife and her ex-lover realized they were in the same room together. Between when the rolls were delivered and the meal was brought out, Charlie ducked into the men's room, hoping to distract himself. He needed to focus on his wife, not the man who had nearly destroyed his marriage. After a few deep breaths in private, he finally felt ready to return only to exit the stall and find Dwyer standing before him.

"Hi, Chief," Dwyer said, obviously attempting to make the impossibly awkward situation less so, "good night for it, huh?"

Charlie remained stoically silent.

"I just want you to know… I am sorry…" Dwyer said. "And Renee made it clear things were over… She's a great woman and she deserves to be happy and you're the guy for that…"

Again, Dwyer waited for some sort of response, but Charlie said nothing though his mustache appeared to twitch slightly.

"Anyway, I hope we can put this whole nasty business behind us," Dwyer said. "So, no hard feelings?"

Dwyer stuck out his hand and Charlie looked at it for a moment, as if no one had ever offered him a handshake before. He looked back up into Dwyer's eyes and then punched the man in the face. Dwyer fell back against the tile wall and Charlie walked out of the bathroom, not even caring if anyone had seen what would probably be constituted as an assault. He returned to his table, only to meet Renee's appraising eye.

"Everything okay?" she asked, concerned.

"Fine," Charlie nodded. "So… what were we talking about…?"

"Bella's senior year," Renee sighed.

"Time flies," Charlie shook his head.

"She's already started asking me about college applications," Renee frowned.

"So, no chance we can convince her to skip college, stay home and live with her parents until she's forty?" Charlie suggested.

"I don't think so," Renee laughed. "Though it's nice to see you haven't deviated from the plan you've had for her since we found out we were having a girl."

"With a little girl as beautiful as ours, you can't honestly tell me you don't worry about her," Charlie huffed. "She looks just like you at your age, and you can't tell me you didn't have creepy high school boys all over you. Believe me, I remember."

"And as I remember I married one of those creepy high school boys," Renee pointed out.

"Exactly," Charlie agreed, "which is even more reason why I should be worried." Renee laughed and the rest of their dinner progressed without incident. In fact, it was only when the waiter returned with their check for the evening Charlie realized Phil had never returned to eat with his date.

* * *

_Sunday, May 25, 2008_  
_8 a.m. Cullen Residence_  
It was an unusually quiet Sunday morning in the Cullen house. Usually, Edward's mother was up making a lavish Sunday brunch while his father read the newspaper. The Cullen's had never been a particularly religious family. Many felt that was because Dr. Carlisle Cullen was a man of science in logic, but in truth it was because he had been raised by a bible-thumping Pentecostal minister who believed physical punishment bordering on the line of abuse were mandated by God to cleanse children of sin. Edward himself didn't like the crotchety old man now in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's that never approved of anything and always had a Bible verse handy to silence anyone who pointed out his flaws. The family only visited him in the Chicago nursing home on rare occasions, and even though they despised the man in their own ways, neither Carlisle nor his four other siblings had ever gotten the courage to tell Anthony Cullen his long-suffering wife was now living it up in a Florida retirement home with a man ten years her junior. The Cullen family didn't believe in divorce, but Grandma's infidelity was somewhat overlooked due to her miserable marriage and the fact that Grandfather couldn't remember her name or what she looked like half the time anyway.

No, usually the Washington Cullen's at least slept in pretty late on Sundays and then had a big breakfast followed by a day of goofing off, watching TV, and hardly any thought toward religious devotion. Edward had been christened, but he had been five or six years old before he had actually been inside a church for a family wedding. Now, however, he found himself up earlier than ever for a Sunday morning. When he woke up at six, he didn't know why he couldn't sleep in his extra four hours, but he felt it had something to do with how things had gone the previous day. After all, he had yelled at his parents, stormed off, spent an afternoon hanging out with friends without really telling his parents where he had been and then coming home at around eight o'clock smelling like pizza grease only to utter a single sentence informing them he was going to sleep. His parents had nodded and quietly wished him goodnight as if they were afraid any loud noises or sudden movements would send their son into another outburst.

After trying to get back to sleep and puttering around the house to alleviate his boredom, Edward set up in the kitchen, got out the waffle iron and started stirring up batter. He had started making a few waffles and was debating whether or not he was talented enough to run the waffle maker and fry up some bacon at the same time when his mother walked into the room. Her hair mashed to one side and her fluffy pink robe securely tied on, Esme Cullen seemed a little surprised to find her son making breakfast. Sure, Edward had always loved helping her in the kitchen, but he rarely made entire family meals on his own and never breakfast. That would require him actually waking up early.

"Hi," Edward said sheepishly. "I couldn't sleep."

"Do you want me to do the bacon and eggs while you finish up the waffles?" Esme asked, not missing a beat.

"Yeah," Edward said. "I'm barely doing the waffles as it is without anything fancy like blueberries or chocolate chips…"

"We can just do them up with some cream and fruit," Esme shrugged, opening the fridge to get out her needed ingredients.

When Carlisle Cullen walked into the kitchen twenty minutes later, he found his wife humming as she cut up a cantaloupe while his son organized stacks of waffles, eggs, bacon and fruit on the table in the breakfast nook. His wife shot him a sly smile and, true to form, Carlisle himself began making the coffee. The family soon settled into breakfast and for a while nothing was heard but the clanking and scraping of silverware against plates.

"Edward," Carlisle said finally, causing his wife to cautiously eye him, "I think we need to talk about yesterday." Edward sat his fork down, waiting for his father to continue: "Where were you exactly?"

"I was at the park with Jasper Whitlock, Alice Brandon and Bella Swan," Edward explained. "We played Frisbee and hung out for a while and then we went to Pacific Pizza for dinner and played video games. Then I came home: Nothing else."

"We wish you had told us you were just going out to see friends," Esme said.

"I wasn't going out to see them," Edward said. "I just ran into them at the park and they invited me out."

"Well, then where were you going?" Carlisle asked.

"I was just trying to get away," Edward shrugged.

"From what," Carlisle asked.

"From… this house… the two of you…" Edward sighed. "I know you guys are all into family time right now, but it's a little bit smothering. I couldn't take another game night or movie night or flying kites in the park… and I'm not nine-years-old anymore… I don't need to spend every last moment hanging out with my parents. Maybe that's why I have such a hard time making friends. I mean, no one wants to hang out with a guy who has his parents always breathing down his neck…"

"Is that… how you really feel?" Esme asked worriedly. Edward sighed.

"It's not always been like that…" Edward shook his head. "But ever since the shooting… I've kind of felt smothered. I know you guys are worried and have every right to be upset… but that doesn't mean you have go with me everywhere or know what I'm doing every second of every day. This time next year, I'll be getting ready to go to college and you can't really expect me to share a dorm with you guys or drive home every weekend to hang out. I know family time is important and I like when we do things together but… not every day of the week… It makes it less fun and more like a chore."

"You are right that your mother and I have been…concerned lately…" Carlisle agreed.

"We almost lost you," Esme said, grabbing her son's arm.

"I know Mom…" Edward began.

"No, you don't know," Esme said harshly. "You don't know what it's like to try to have a baby for five years, to be told it might never happen and then to go through a pregnancy where you're on bed rest for the last three months only for your baby to come early and there to be an entire new set of worries that he was born too early… to raise a child for seventeen years and then see him covered in his own blood and being loaded into an ambulance. There is nothing more important to me in this world than being your mother and if I had lost that… if I had lost you… it would have killed me. It would have seriously killed me."

"Mom, you can't wrap me in bubble wrap and lock me in my room for the rest of my life," Edward shook his head. "I could get in a car wreck tomorrow. I could die in my sleep in my nineties. I could die of gangrene from a paper cut infection. I could get diagnosed with cancer…"

"You aren't having headaches or seeming to bruise easy, are you?" Carlisle interrupted.

"No, Dad," Edward rolled his eyes. "It's an example. The point is I know you worry about me, but it's stopping me from living my life, from having fun and enjoying things. Is this really the right way to go about protecting me? You can't protect me from everything and especially not while letting me still live my life to the fullest. I mean, isn't that why you guys had me in the first place? To raise me and then see me go off on my own and be successful?" Though his father seemed to agree, Edward noticed his mother's lip quivering a little.

"We have raised a pretty bright kid, Es," Carlisle pointed out. Esme sighed and squeezed her son's hand.

"I know we've been… overprotective," she admitted, "but it's just because we love you. And in light of… recent events… it has been hard to reconcile that you're growing up and leaving so soon… I know you want to be viewed as an adult honey, I do, but there is still a part of me that will always see that little boy."

"I'm not asking you to let go of that," Edward said. "I'm asking you to let me be the person you know I can be."

"I propose a compromise," Carlisle said. "Edward is free to spend time with his friends as long as he tells us where he will be and in exchange we will set aside one night a week for something family-oriented. How does that sound?"

"Deal," Edward agreed.

* * *

**End Note: (aka A Science Lesson about Teen Brain Development)**  
_The second largest growth spurt the human brain experience is during adolescence. The largest growth spurt occurs during infancy. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry reports the years between age 11 and age 19 are "a critical time of development" for the human brain. Toddler tantrums and teenage outbursts are both side effects of these crucial brain development periods._

_This time of brain development includes many changes to the limbic system and amygdala, which includes emotional responses. This rapid development is the cause for emotional outbursts including rage, fear, aggression, excitement and sexual attraction. It isn't until the later years that the limbic system begins to develop enough to bring equilibrium to impulse control and higher order thought, which actually gives teens more control over their outbursts._

_This is also the reason why younger teens are more likely to engage in risky behavior and fall victim to peer pressure as opposed to older teens that have had more development in their limbic system and prefrontal cortex. _

_Adolescence is also the time period when the human brain develops abstract thinking. For the first time in their lives, adolescents have learned to think through another's viewpoint and for the first time realizing that other people have thoughts and opinions about them. This development of abstract thinking often leads to increased social anxiety as well as an increased need to conform to peer norms and pressure._

_Despite what they say, a study done by Northwestern University found a survey of teenagers revealed that 84 percent think highly of their mothers and 89 percent think highly of their fathers. More than three-quarters of teenagers enjoy spending time with their parents; 79 percent admit to enjoying one-on-one time with Mom while 76 percent like one-on-one time with Dad._


	31. Chapter 31

**Thanks to dowlingnana**

* * *

_Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them? - Abraham Lincoln, American president_

* * *

_Thursday, May 29, 2008_

_3 p.m. – Forks Community Center_

"So, I'm really excited," Whitney beamed. "They're bringing Jess home this weekend, which is great. I've missed her a lot and it's hard to get back and forth from Seattle. It will be nice to have her back… I mean, I know she'll never be the same. She'll never be the cousin I had or the person she was before… She can't walk anymore, and the doctors said she's mentally between five and eight year's old. I guess it's kind of a blessing in disguise, you know? She doesn't really remember what happened… she doesn't understand either… She still remembers some stuff, but we don't really know how much she remembers from beforehand because she can't communicate as well as she used to… But she's gotten great at using her wheel chair and she's… she's happy, I think. The doctors don't think she'll ever be able to walk again, but my aunt and uncle are still putting her into physical therapy. They're still hopeful. And she'll be doing a lot of work with her brain, maybe hoping she can get back some of her mental facilities… It's a slim chance she'll ever be the person she was again…I'm sorry… I know I'm taking up so much time…"

"It's alright, Whitney," Tia prompted. "Go on."

"Anyway, I'm glad I still have her, but I do feel… a little guilty, I guess," Whitney sighed. "She's probably not going to complete high school. She won't go to college, and she'll never get married or have a family of her own… We'll still be able to do things we enjoyed together like watch movies and go to the mall… but it won't be the same as it used to be. I'm mean, I'm going to grow up, you know? I'm going to get older and move on but Jess… Jess is going to at least mentally probably stay the same. She's always going to be pretty childlike after this… I mean, she had to relearn everything… how to eat with a fork and spoon… she's reading again, but children's books mainly. She finds chapter books too challenging right now… and she's still pretty scared of loud noises… But I'm trying to stay positive for her. I know this sounds weird, but she seems happier now than she did… before… she's not stressed or worried about responsibilities or anything like that… she's happy… she's like she was when she was a kid again…"

"Any word about Lauren," Angela asked curiously.

"She and Jess didn't talk much in the hospital," Whitney admitted. "It sort of freaked Lauren out that when Jess woke up she was… she wasn't like she used to be… she'd… what's the word I'm looking for?"

"Regressed?" Bella suggested.

"Yeah," Whitney nodded. "Anyway, Lauren's lost all feeling and movement below her neck. Her nerves and spinal cord were severed, but she's still alive… her parents are moving her to this specialty clinic in Virginia somewhere… I mean, they're just packing up and leaving the whole family… They didn't want to believe that Lauren will never walk or use her arms again… So, they're going to give physical therapy a go and see if she can't get some type of movement yet. Right now, they're working on getting her a service dog and she's learning how to write with a pencil held in her mouth and stuff… I think Jess is going to miss her, but again she doesn't really understand the whole scope of it. She just knows that Lauren is her friend and she's moving across the country to get better…"

"It's good that you are spending time with your cousin," Tia told her.

"She likes to color a lot," Whitney said. "Like when we were little. She loves coloring books and coloring on blank sheets of paper… She was worried about going home, but when I told her we could spend all day Sunday coloring together, she was really happy."

"Are your aunt and uncle allowing people to come see her when she gets home?" Alice asked curiously.

"We're having a small welcome home party… just family," Whitney shrugged. "I think they want to get her settled before she has too many people over, you know? It's been a lot of prep work. Since she can't walk, they've had to move her bedroom into the old den and they had to install a wheelchair ramp in the house… They sold her car and they're getting her mom's van equipped for the wheelchair… It's a lot of change. And she's probably going to have to live with them for the rest of her life like that… It's been tough. But they're just so glad she's alive…"

"Is she going to be doing her therapy in the hospital at Forks?" Edward asked curiously.

"Yeah," Whitney nodded. "They've got a therapist who is going to be coming to the hospital once a week to see her. Actually, your dad helped set it up. My aunt and uncle are really grateful for that, by the way. Otherwise, they would have had to drive up to Port Angeles or to Seattle for appointments, and they would have had more time between appointments."

"Is there anything else anyone wants to talk about today?" Tia asked. The rest of the room shook their heads and Tia launched into the prepared plan for the day, which was discussing a project Tia had assigned for them. The topic was using their summer to improve their communities, and the group had to admit Tia's idea that working to help others would make them feel better was actually working out.

When the session was over, most of the group headed out quickly. It was peak season for tourists, and Emmett had promised to help his parents with the entire book keeping and checking in people who were taking advantage of the summer weather for their trips to the Olympic National Park. Edward had one of his planned Cullen family nights to attend and Jasper's family was going out to eat with Ms. Cope that evening, so he had to get home as well. Bella had hitched a ride with Alice and as they waited for Cynthia, they were surprised to see Rose come up to them. She usually jetted out as quickly as possible so she could get to her shift at the hospital.

"What's up?" Alice asked Rose.

"What was that about Jessica?" Rose asked curiously.

"What do you mean?" Alice frowned.

"Why were you so nice to Whitney about her? I know Jess was as much of a bitch to you as she was to me," Rose said. "She made our lives at school miserable…"

"We are supposed to be moving on," Bella pointed out.

"Moving on doesn't mean forgetting," Rose replied.

"Rose, can you really treat her the same way now? Knowing what has happened to her?" Alice shook her head. "She isn't the same Jessica Stanley now… She's… brain damaged… and she probably doesn't remember what she said to us or why… she's not the Jessica we knew."

"So, we're supposed to forgive her because she doesn't remember it?" Rose huffed.

"Rose, you heard Whitney," Bella shook her head. "Jessica can't walk. She acts like she's a second-grader. She's… childlike… Can you really hold a grudge against someone who's suffered so much? I mean, yeah, Jess was a real bitch to everyone. She made me spend an entire afternoon crying in the bathroom in eighth grade. But I'd say she has more than gotten her just desserts. I mean, if this isn't an example of karma being a bitch, what is?"

"It's just hard to reconcile all of it," Rose shook her head. "I don't think I can let go of who she used to be so easily."

"Maybe once you see her you'll change your mind," Alice shrugged. "Let's just try not to judge her until we see her again, okay? And besides, aren't we supposed to be the bigger people in this situation? Maybe we should so something nice for her when she gets home…"

"Whitney did say she liked to color," Rose bit her lip. "Hell fine. I'm in. Just let me know what you crazy chicks have planned and I'll pitch in."

"Great," Alice grinned. "So, can we talk about how Emmett kept looking at you in group or…"

"Look at the time. I'm late. See ya!" Rose said before rushing off toward the parking lot, leaving Bella and Alice giggling in her wake.

* * *

_Friday, May 30, 2008_

_5 p.m. – Pacific Pizza_

Emmett was so glad when he got the text message from Jasper asking him to hang out with the group at the pizza place in downtown Forks. The Memorial Day weekend – which was the official kick off to the summer and tourist season – was the start of the busy season for the inn and that meant for the next three months his parents would be swamped with the business. Usually, they hired extra help for the summer, and there were four new employees running around the place trying to get used to how things worked. Emmett himself was glad that his parents agreed to let him out, even on Friday night which was usually the biggest night for check-ins. Of course, he figured his parents thought a good night of fun would be enough encouragement for Emmett to end up working long hours at the desk Saturday and Sunday evenings.

When he arrived, most of the group invited had already arrived, mainly because they were the ones who lived in town and didn't have to travel in as far. Jasper Whitlock was playing a vintage video game in the corner with Alice while Rose, Bella, Ben and Angela were laughing about something in the giant booth in the corner. Emmett assumed Edward wasn't there yet because he also had a bit of a drive into the town of Forks proper. Emmett waved over at the group and slid in the booth next to Rose, who smiled at him warmly before turning back to the conversation Angela and Bella were having together. Emmett was adjusting himself more comfortably on the vinyl booth seat when the bell above the door of the pizzeria rang, Edward Cullen shyly slipping into the room and then nervously looking around until rushing over to the table where he had spied his friends. Alice and Jasper came over upon Edward's arrival and the entire configuration of the booth was shuffled around until they were sitting in a semicircle: Angela, Ben, Edward, Bella, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rose. Emmett made a remark about how this was the same order they sat in during group, getting a laugh from the crowd, and the waitress came over to order.

The girls decided to split a large cheese pizza and mozzarella sticks while the boys seemed to have eyes bigger than their stomachs, ordering a meat lovers, supreme, and Hawaiian pizza along with the spicy buffalo wings Emmett and Ben insisted were essential. When the appetizers arrived, Alice decided to be bold and try half of a buffalo wing, only to down her entire soda and then half of Bella's to deal with the heat. Jasper with a smug look popped and entire wing in his mouth and appeared to swallow it whole, only for Alice to blow a straw wrapper at him. With the hot wings devoured and the girls swatting the boys away from the remaining mozzarella sticks, Emmett managed to convince Ben and Jasper to go with him to the arcade portion of the restaurant to await their food. Rose managed to convince Alice and Angela to accompany her to the bathroom, though Bella wasn't particularly fond of the practice of girls going to the bathroom together.

"So, you don't think Emmett's exuberance will get us kicked out of this place, do you?" Edward asked Bella, attempting to make some semblance of conversation.

"Are you kidding? Someone with his appetite is a goldmine for a restaurant," Bella snorted. "I'm sure the manager's pupils changed to dollar signs when he walked in. Now, if this was an all you can eat place I could foresee us being asked to leave."

"I suppose being on the football team doesn't hurt either," Edward shrugged.

"I think that's just an excuse for his appetite," Bella said. "After seeing how quickly he snapped up those wings, I'd advise you to grab whatever slice you want as quickly as you want."

"So… what are your big plans for summer?" Edward asked.

"Other than the summer reading we have assigned for AP English, nothing yet," Bella shrugged.

"No family vacations or anything?" Edward asked.

"My dad is chief of police," Bella snorted. "We haven't taken a family vacation since I was nine because he can't get away from work long enough. And even when he does get time off he prefers to spend it fishing with his buddies or hunting. What about you? Where are the Cullen's going this summer?"

"Well, there is the annual pilgrimage to Chicago to visit my family," Edward said pulling a face. "We get to visit with my grandfather, who is suffering from dementia and thinks everyone is going to hell. At least two of my dad's three sisters will get into a fight and make things awkward. I'll probably get beat up at least once by my male cousins. Then we'll go see Mom's side of the family where Grandpa Platt will be disappointed because I'm not on any sports teams and as my mom is a girl, I'm the family's only shot at having a player in the NFL. Mom and Grandma Platt will get into a screaming match because Grandma is still mad Mom married dad over some guy Mom dated in high school who was the son of a friend of the family. If I'm lucky, Mom will get so pissed we'll go home a day early."

"I thought your dad made the big bucks as a doctor so you guys could go somewhere fun," Bella said.

"My dad makes the big bucks so he can afford to live as far away from his family as possible," Edward said. "He is stuck in like a two-week long cringe whenever we go to visit them, but we always go because he and Mom feel guilty for moving away, even though they don't get along with their parents and their parents never got along with each other. Dad got a job in the middle of nowhere in Washington State and thought it was his chance to get out."

"And to think most people dream of getting out of Forks," Bella laughed. "I just can't wait until I go to college and get away from this place."

"Where are you looking to go?" Edward asked.

"UDub, most likely," Bella shrugged. "My grades aren't that bad, but my dad's salary means the number of schools I can apply for is limited by how many scholarships I can get. If worse comes to worst, I'll have to put up with two years at community college so I can afford to graduate at a four year school. What about you?"

"Well… my Mom wants me to go to Northwestern, which was her alma mater," Edward said, "but I'd probably end up living with the crazy family if I go there. And Dad wants me to go to Dartmouth…"

"His alma mater," Bella asked.

"No, his dream school," Edward said. "He didn't have the grades in high school to get in, let alone the cash at the time, but he's always wanted me to go since he never got a chance to: Sort of the whole living vicariously through your kids' thing."

"So, do you not want to go there?" Bella asked.

"I don't know… I'd probably prefer something more along the lines of Caltech or MIT," Edward said. "I don't think Dartmouth's computer programming department is as highly ranked as it could be. UDub does have one of the best programs out there, though. I mean, what will all the computer stuff centered in Seattle… It would just be a matter of convincing my folks that it's still a good school despite not being Ivy League."

"Well, it would be nice if you did go there," Bella said. "At least I would know someone. Alice is planning on UCLA."

"Bella, I'm pretty sure half our graduating class is going to UDub," Edward pointed out.

"True," Bella laughed. The waitress emerged with their pizza and suddenly they were crushed back into the booth by their friends, including a greedy Emmett who had tucked a napkin into his shirt and began pounding his knife and fork on the table in anticipation.

* * *

_7:30 p.m. _

"So, how's your car?" Emmett asked Rose.

The rest of their group had sort of dissipated over the past few hours. Edward had left soon after Bella had. Alice and Jasper had left together, Jasper's face turning bright red at Emmett's insinuations they were just going to his car to make out. Only Ben and Angela remained, but they were too busy making goo-goo eyes at each other over the last slice of Hawaiian pizza to pay attention to any conversation between Emmett and Rose on the other side of the booth. Rose could have sworn the pair was a couple of seconds from sucking each other's faces off if it weren't for Angela's prominently displayed purity ring.

"It's good," Rose said. "It was just the battery, thankfully. We gave it the once over and Dad figured it was safe enough."

"Your dad a gearhead," Emmett asked.

"You could probably say that about both of us," Rose nodded. "Before Dad got into the exciting world of public accounting he worked in an auto garage. He built cars up as a teen and stuff. Of course, he figured low-level grunt work wasn't the best way to afford those fancy cars. So, he got an accounting degree and now he does people's taxes and works on cars for fun. Taught me everything I know. It's sort of our thing, you know?"

"Yeah," Emmett nodded. "My dad and I go fishing and camping. That's our thing. My mom and I watch reality TV."

"Reality TV?" Rose said, her eyebrows rising.

"Yeah," Emmett said. "You know, 'Survivor'… and maybe a few shows depicting dancing celebrities and talent competitions… you know… those are more up Mom's alley…"

"I'm sure," Rose smirked.

"Well… I guess I'll see you around?" Emmett asked. "You hanging out with Ms. Cope tomorrow? I could come over and help out you know… I mean, you could just text me if you needed me or something. I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind me ditching the inn for a few hours while I help her out…"

"Sure," Rose smiled. "I think Ms. Cope would really like that."

* * *

**End Note:**

_A recent survey conducted by Virginia Tech asked a number of teachers about their personal confrontations with parents. The survey found 99 percent of teachers had some dealing with an aggressive parent and more than half of the teachers surveyed reported experiencing some kind of verbal or physical abuse from parents of their students. _

_The survey found 26 percent of teachers surveyed reported the student or parent in question had targeted them with offensive graffiti, abusive telephone calls to their home or workplace, or malicious damage to their personal property. The survey also found 14 percent of teachers reported their family members were also targeted by aggressive parents. _

_Additionally, 23 percent of educators who responded to the survey said they had witnessed a parent physically assaulting or intimidating a fellow teacher. Another 48 percent of teachers reported overhearing a parent threaten to injure another teacher physically, injure them with a weapon or threatening to damage the teacher's property. Approximately 1 in 5 of these threats was made in front of students._

_The reasons why these parents confronted teachers? The most common cause was because the child had been removed from a sports team. Homework issues, low grades and test scores were the second biggest reason for verbal abuse of teachers by parents while low attendance by the student was the third most frequent reason why parents confronted teachers. _


	32. Chapter 32

**Thanks to dowlingnana**

* * *

_Disability is a matter of perception. If you can do just one thing well, you're needed by someone. _

_- Martina Navratilova, Czech American tennis player and coach_

* * *

_Thursday, June 5, 2008_

_1 p.m. – Stanley Residence_  
Bella and Rose weren't exactly sure about Alice's newfound interest in Jessica Stanley, but when she solicited them for a few cash donations to purchase art supplies, they willingly forked over some pocket change. Angela Webber had handed over cash for a good cause, but she wasn't with the other girls Thursday afternoon when they were invited over to the Stanley house to see Jessica for the first time since she had been let out of the hospital. Rose and Bella came on their own and were both a little shocked but mostly entertained by the site of Alice lugging two big bags of art supplies up the front walk.

After hearing Whitney's stories about Jessica's newfound appreciation for drawing in light of her injury, Alice had gone out to her favorite art store in Port Angeles that Saturday – both Jasper and her sister Cynthia in tow – to pick out things she thought Jessica might like. She had gotten a big box of crayons, markers, colored pencils, a few washable paints and a big blank sketchbook in addition to several smaller coloring books featuring everything from pictures of kittens to sea scenes to wild animals. The bags of supplies weren't particularly large except for Alice's diminutive size made just about everything seem bigger by comparison.

"You realize most human beings only have two hands, right? How could anybody use all that stuff?" Rose snorted as Alice came up the walk.

"Hey, we artists are very temperamental," Alice retorted. "We need a variety of different mediums to express ourselves." Rose rolled her eyes and Bella obligingly took one of the bags from Alice.

"So… it's okay that we're here, right?" Bella asked. "I mean, I know the Stanley's didn't want anyone just barging in or anything…"

"Whitney said it was fine," Alice assured her. "I talked to her yesterday and she said Jessica's mom was glad to have us."

"You talked with Whitney Stanley?" Rose said. "I wasn't aware she gave her phone number out to just anyone."

"Her parents are listed in the phone book," Alice shrugged. "So… is Angela not coming?"

"Guess not," Bella shrugged. "I don't know why. Helping the less fortunate is usually right up her alley. I mean, she volunteers for a Christian summer camp and works with the disabled kids there. It's not like this is anything new to her…"

"I know exactly why she isn't coming," Rose huffed. "You both remember how Jessica used to treat all of us. Even holier-than-thou Angela probably has problems with turning the other cheek on this one. I mean, the girl used to create fake Facebook accounts to trick girls into thinking they had an Internet boyfriend. She made fun of Angela for having small boobs when we were changing in gym once, and I'm still a little pissed about the things she and her friends wrote about me on the bathroom walls. I'm not even sure how you two managed to drag me out here."

"Can we just go into this with an open mind?" Alice huffed. "You heard what Whitney said. This isn't the same Jessica anymore, okay?"

"Fine," Rose huffed. "Just ring the doorbell and let's get this over with. Bella rang the bell and within a few seconds, Whitney had answered the door, seeming a little nervous.

"Hi," Whitney said. "My aunt is in the kitchen with Jessica…she's really glad you guys are here."

"Sure," Alice grinned, bounding into the room. "We brought gifts!"

"Great," Whitney smiled. Bella and Rose walked toward the kitchen and Rose fell in step with Whitney.

"You going to group later," Rose asked awkwardly.

"Yeah," Whitney said. "I'm trying to help out my aunt for the summer, though. It's a little hard… handling Jessica on her own… she still gets pretty emotional about the whole thing, but I'm happy to help."

Rose stopped short and found Alice and Bella awkwardly doing the same, none of them sure what to make of the scene before them. Sure, there were hints this was Jessica Stanley, but she was in a wheelchair with her hair growing back in slowly where it had been shaved to remove the bullets from her skull. She was bent over the kitchen picking Cheerios out of a bowl, her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth as she did so. However, when she looked up at them all with a silly grin on her face the full extent of her injuries could be detected.

Here eyes were sort of glazed over and the left once was drooping a little, something that the perfect face of the old Jessica never would have done. She had a silly grin and was wearing a bright pink shirt with cats on it as well as some old jeans, a wardrobe choice the prissy Jessica from school would have died rather than be seen in. There was a scar on her head where the bullet had been removed and part of her mouth dropped down a little lower than it should. Most of all, she looked genuinely happy to see all of them, waving exuberantly.

"Hey, Jess," Whitney said.

"Hi Whit!" Jessica giggled. Her voice sounded much younger than Jessica had in the past. Rose cringed a little at the sound as it reminded her of when Jessica was much younger.

"These are some friends from school," Whitney continued. "They came to see you. Do you remember them?" Jessica scrunched up her face, trying very hard to remember.

"You're…. Bella?" Jessica said pointing to her.

"Yes, I am," Bella smiled. "It's nice to see you."

"And you're Alice…" Jessica nodded, moving on. "I remember drawing ponies in art class!"

"Yeah," Alice smiled. "We had a really nice art teacher in third grade."

"And you're…" Jessica frowned, searching her memory as she stared at Rose. "I don't remember you…"

"I'm Rosalie Hale. Rose?" she prompted. Suddenly, Jessica's face lit up.

"You were my buddy when we went to see the fish!" Jessica said excitedly.

"The fish?" Whitney said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Rose smiled. "We were field trip buddies in second grade when they took us to see the biological research group UDub has set up in Forks. We got to see salmon and some different species from the ocean… it was a lot of fun."

"We got to pet the fish in the tank!" Jessica remembered exuberantly.

"I didn't like it," Rose smiled. "Those fish we really slimy, weren't they?"

"Uh-huh," Jessica agreed.

"It's good to see you again," Bella offered.

"I'm at home in my room now," Jessica nodded. "Not in the stinky hospital."

"We couldn't go see you in the hospital, but we've brought some things we thought might cheer you up," Alice said.

"Goodie!" Jessica clapped.

Her eyes went wide as Alice produced the markers, pencils, pens and all of the coloring books. The watercolors were handed over to Jessica's mother, who was happy to take them and put them in a safe place. Of course, Jessica's biggest source of excitement was the giant sketchbook Alice produced. Jessica happily started coloring in it as soon as Alice handed it over and encouraged her new friends to color with her as well. Alice, Bella and Rose soon found themselves coloring pictures from the coloring book along with Whitney while Jessica scribbled across her new sketchbook. Her movements were childlike and it was obvious she didn't have as much control as she did before the shooting, but she seemed a lot happier than before the shooting as well.

By two o'clock, Jessica was tired and ready for a nap, so Whitney offered to wheel her back to her room and help her to bed. Bella, Alice and Rose helped Mrs. Stanley clean up the mess they had made in the kitchen and organize Jessica's new supplies in the art corner her parents had created. Coloring seemed to be one of the few things that gave Jessica pleasure, so her parents were really encouraging it.

"How is she doing?" Bella asked Mrs. Stanley worriedly.

"Some days are better than others," Mrs. Stanley sighed. "I used to have hard times thinking about her growing up… that she would never be my little girl again and now…" Mrs. Stanley paused and collected herself. "We're worried about seizures. The doctor said those are common with brain trauma like this. She lost the use of her legs because of the wound to her spine, but we are hoping with physical therapy she can get some of that back… but everything that is mental… she'll never be the same. If they hadn't taken out the bullets she might not have changed so drastically, but if they'd left them in it was more likely she would die…"

"I know it's not much of a consolation, but she seems happier than I've seen her in a while," Rose admitted.

"She has taken it in stride,' Mrs. Stanley smiled. "I want… to thank you girls so much for coming today. None of Jessica's other friends really came to see her in the hospital or called to ask how she was doing… I know she lost a lot of them like Vicky and Tanya and Jane… but the other girls from the cheer team… the ones that… survived… none of them came to see her. It's nice to see she does have friends who care about her… that there are people who aren't going to forget her…"

"We're glad to see she's doing better," Alice said. "And whenever she wants to hang out, let us know. I had a lot of fun coloring today. I haven't used crayons in forever. Reminded me of how fun it is."

"You girls were really sweet to bring her all that stuff," Mrs. Stanley smiled.

"Believe me, Alice will take any chance she can get to shop for art supplies," Bella laughed. "It's her favorite thing."

"Maybe Jess and I could get together and paint sometime," Alice suggested.

"I think she would like that," Mrs. Stanley smiled.

* * *

_3 p.m. – Forks Community Center_  
Whitney's need to talk about her cousin's progress and unavoidable regression dominated the talk at group that day. No one else protested the discussion, least of all the three girls that had visited with Jessica earlier that day. Tia, too, felt it was important for the group to hear about Jessica's condition. They had seen survival and death result from the incident, but for many of them Jessica was something in between. She hadn't died, but she would never be the same physically or mentally. Looking at the uphill battle the Stanley family was dealing with make some of their own recovery issues dim in comparison.

"I think it's been hardest on my aunt," Whitney said. "I like going to see her and Jess, but I think my aunt… I don't know… I feel guilty when I'm around them. Sometimes, I think my aunt is looking at what has happened to Jess and then to me, and when she sees that I'm completely normal… I don't know… I wonder if she's jealous of my mom… that nothing happened to me and Jess is now… she's never going to be the same. And I feel guilty that I'm going to grow up and have the life I always wanted, but Jess is always going to be like she is right now. She's never going to get to do all the stuff she wanted. She's never going to be a normal adult."

"You don't need to feel guilty," Tia assured her.

"Yeah," Alice agreed. "It's not your fault. I don't think your aunt should feel guilty. She should be relieved that she has both of you: That you're both still alive. She could have lost a lot more than she did."

"She and my uncle haven't been getting along," Whitney admitted. "She's still mad at him… when Jess first woke up in the hospital… and then realized what had happened, that she had lost use of her legs and a lot of her brain function… my uncle said it would have been better if she had died. I know he was just really upset and angry. And I guess maybe a part of him feels it would have been better if Jess had lost her life than be doomed to the life she has now… one where she'll never be independent and never grow up… but it really upset my aunt. She won't forgive him for it, even though I just think he was upset at the time and needed to vent. And I know it's not good for Jess for them to fight, especially since she doesn't really understand what happened to her."

"Your uncle has to deal with this in his own way, but I agree he and your aunt have to put aside differences for Jessica's sake," Tia said.

"What does Jess know about what happened?" Edward asked curiously.

"We don't exactly know," Whitney sighed. "Her memory is pretty spotty. She remembers a lot of things from when she was little, but we've noticed she remembers less and less about her life the more recent it is. She doesn't seem to remember really anything past middle school. As far as her injury, she says the only thing she remembers is a really loud boom, a lot of pain and then black. Well, she said 'the loud boom made me hurt and then it went dark.' That's all she really remembers."

"Maybe that's a good thing," Emmett shrugged. "I wish I didn't remember it."

"I don't think she would know how to process it if she did understand," Whitney admitted. "Or maybe she does understand more but she's lost the ability to communicate it with us. It's hard to tell what she knows and can't explain anymore."

"I get what your uncle meant," Alec piped in. "I loved Janie. She'll always be my sister and my twin, but she wouldn't have wanted to live like that. I wouldn't want her to be… like a vegetable or something. That isn't any kind of life. And Jane would have hated being a burden on our family. I can't imagine what it has to be like for your aunt and uncle… you know? Their kid is never going to grow up and then they have to worry about who is going to take care of her after they die, like if a family member will be willing to take it on or if she'll get put in one of those state-run homes or something…"

"I think it's important to be thankful for what blessings you have been given," Angela suggested. "Maybe Jessica will never be like she was before, but at least she's still alive. And with faith, she might be able to get back some of what she lost. Even if she doesn't gain back her memories or her ability to walk, you still have your cousin and she still has you. A lot of people lost someone very important to them that day and would give anything to have them back, even in a limited capacity."

"It's getting kind of hard to look at everything as a blessing in disguise," Whitney said. "It's hard to be grateful for what you have when everyone you love is hurting so much. I can't be thankful when I'm still reeling from all we've lost."

"All life is a blessing," Angela shook her head.

"Yeah, so much of a blessing that you didn't even bother showing up to see her today when you said you would," Whitney snorted. "Face it, Angela, you talk your talk, but when it comes to walking the walk, you chicken out. You think you're in a place to give advice, but you aren't. I am so sick and tired of people who have no idea what it's like to try and tell us to be happy or thankful. My cousin needs my help to wipe her own ass when she shits. Is that really a precious life, Angela: To barely be able to feed yourself? To be almost of legal age and you can't even get yourself to the toilet to take a shit?"

"Whitney," Tia cautioned. "We are not going to be bashing each other in this circle."

"I know," Whitney said, tears starting in her eyes. "And I don't want to be harsh, but I can't say I'm sorry. I can't handle the rose-colored glasses, not right now, and I wish some people would respect that." Angela at least had the decency to look a little ashamed.

Tia decided to dismiss the group early but asked Whitney to stay behind a little so they could talk. Whitney seemed pretty grateful for the offer, still pretty upset. Before they left, Whitney got a promise from Alice, Bella and Rose to come over again the next day. Jessica had really enjoyed their visit and it was important to her mother that she have some kids her own age willing to spend time with her. Rose decided to use it as an opportunity to get to the hospital a bit earlier than usual, but Angela stopped her, Alice and Bella before any of them could leave the community center.

"Do you think… is Whitney mad at me for not coming?" Angela asked.

"She's mad at you because of all your holier-than-thou bullshit," Rose snorted. "Seriously, what made you think that someone who is still dealing with all of that stuff wants to hear it's a 'blessing' or that she should be 'grateful'? How grateful would you feel if that was your family, huh?"

"I was just trying to help," Angela shot back.

"Yeah, well the road to hell is paved with good intentions," Rose retorted. "Look, I gotta get going…"

"Why does Rose hate me?" Angela sighed.

"Maybe because you and the Bible Club sluts shamed her based on a rumor her ex-boyfriend started because she wouldn't have sex with him?" Alice suggested. "She's always felt a little judged by the 'judge not lest ye be judged' crowd since then."

"You've got to work on your delivery, Ang," Bella agreed. "Sometimes, you have to tell people what they need to hear, even if you don't exactly believe it yourself."

"I just thought… I thought she'd be happy that Jessica is alive," Angela admitted, "that her cousin is living, not six feet under."

"That depends on your definition of living," Alice shrugged. "Jessica is in a place where she's alive, but I don't know if you could honestly say she's living. At least not the way she was before."

"This is just… a lot to think about," Angela sighed.

"Maybe you should come see her tomorrow with us," Bella suggested. "It might be good to see her."

"Whitney won't want me there," Angela shook her head.

"Yeah, but I think you owe it to her after bailing today," Alice said.

"I just… didn't know if I could handle it," Angela sighed. "But what's right isn't always easy. I think I'm going to wait here… I feel like… I owe Whitney an apology."

"You want any back up?" Alice asked.

"Thanks, but no thanks," Angela smiled. "This… I need to do on my own."

* * *

**End Note:**  
_For those who are interested, Jessica suffering is from a necrotic injury. The neocortex is the portion of the brain that controls critical thinking, learning, memory, as well as higher functions like motor skills, spatial reasoning and language. Her bullet wound is categorized as a traumatic brain injury, known in medical jargon as TBI. _

_According to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, gunshot wound head trauma is the cause of an estimated 35 percent of all deaths attributed to TBI. Gunshot wound head trauma is fatal about 90 percent of the time, with many victims dying before arriving at the hospital. For victims who survive the initial trauma, about 50 percent die in the emergency room. About 50 percent of surviving patients will suffer from seizures and require anti-epilepsy medication. _

_The Centers for Disease Control report that at least 1.4 million traumatic brain injuries occur each year with an estimated 85,000 individuals experiencing permanent disability. Within the past two decades, violence related deaths – such as beatings and gunshot wounds – have surpassed motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of TBI related death. Firearm related incidents account for 40 percent of TBI related deaths while motor vehicle crashes accounted for 34 percent of fatalities and falls about 10 percent._

_My great uncle was born with severe mental retardation to the point he didn't learn how to walk until he was 12 and has never learned to speak. His motor skills are limited. He has lived in a specialized facility since he was 21-years-old when my great-grandparents got too old to care for him. One day, at church, my great-grandmother was talking about how much of a struggle it was to raise him, to know that he would never have a normal life. One of the women at her church said, "Yes, but isn't the fact that he's alive a miracle?" My great-grandmother – who miscarried once and had two other children live only hours before dying as infants – looked the woman dead in the eye and said: "I would rather he have died in my womb than live the way he has to." We all love my great uncle, but we will always wonder what type of man he could have become otherwise._


	33. Chapter 33

**Thanks to dowlingnana**

* * *

_Friendship is a plant of slow growth and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation._

_- George Washington, American president and general_

* * *

_Monday, June 16, 2008_  
_2:36 p.m. – Whitlock residence_

"She said yes!" Emmett fist pumped, barreling in to the game room at the Whitlock residence.

"Is that supposed to mean something to us?" Jasper snorted from the cushion where he was sitting. Edward was beating him mercilessly at _Call of Duty_, which was something unusual. Jasper had inherited his father's love and innate sense for military tactics, so it was weird for him to lose military-style video games or board games like Risk and Parcheesi.

"Dude, Rose. Rose said yes," Emmett beamed.

"What was the question?" Edward asked as his character threw a grenade. "Was the question 'do you want a taco:' Because I would say 'yes' to that, too. I mean, if you're offering…"

"I'm not offering up tacos," Emmett rolled his eyes. "What kind of creepo goes around asking girls if they want tacos?"

"A pervert in a taco truck," Jasper offered.

"I am seriously having the best moment of my life here and you guys aren't even listening," Emmett snorted.

"Fine," Jasper said, pausing the game.

"I was in the zone!" Edward said mournfully.

"What happened?" Jasper asked.

"I asked Rose out and she said yes!" Emmett grinned.

"She understood the question, right?" Edward asked.

"Are you sure she was talking to you?" Jasper asked.

"You guys are supposed to be excited for me," Emmett snorted. "Come on, if Tyler weren't at science camp and Eric wasn't in Florida with his grandparents, they'd be jumping up and down right now."

"So, what? We're your substitute BFFs?" Jasper replied.

"Yeah," Edward frowned. "We're like your backups?"

"Hey, I was excited for you when you and Alice got together," Emmett said to Jasper.

"You didn't find out about that until two and a half weeks after it happened," Jasper pointed out.

"You two are seriously bringing me down here," Emmett said. "I've been pining after this girl forever…"

"Pining?" Edward whistled.

"Hey, I know big words," Emmett snorted. "I studied hard and got a 2100 on my SATs thank you very much."

"No, it's not that… it's just…pining? You don't come off as the type of guy who pines," Edward shrugged.

"I have a very sensitive soul," Emmett said.

"Well, congrats, dude," Jasper shrugged. "She's a nice girl. And she deserves a nice guy like you."

"Thanks, man," Emmett smiled.

"Well, what are you going to do?" Edward asked. "Like, are you taking her to Port Angeles or something?"

"That's where I need you guys," Emmett said. "I want something special… not your dinner and a movie thing…"

"I took Alice for dinner and a movie on our first date," Jasper pointed out.

"Yeah, but that was the first date ever for both of you," Emmett pointed out. "Rose went out with Royce and the dude had money. A lot of it. Like have dinner on rented yacht money. I want to do something special… something that lets Rose know I'm serious and that I think she's special. What do you and Alice do?"

"We just hang out," Jasper shrugged. "We do the dinner and a movie thing. We toss the Frisbee around in the park… video games… watch movies… I went over to her house last night and played Clue with her family…"

"Okay… that is kind of the opposite direction I want to go here," Emmett said. "Edward, what about you?"

"The only time I have ever gone on anything remotely resembling a date was when I had to play mystery date with my bratty 13-year-old cousin so she would quit throwing a temper tantrum," Edward said. "I got the nerdy guy and she's made fun of me for it ever since."

"Yeah, but there's a lot of love in your house, isn't there?" Emmett said. "What does Papa Cullen do when he and his lady want to get frisky?"

"First of all, gross. Those are my parents," Edward said. "Second of all… he takes her out to eat… somewhere nice… and they just have… what do they call it.. 'couple time.' It's just nice things they do for each other to keep the romance alive. Like, the other week, I walked in on him giving her feet a rub just because with these weird massage oils… I've been trying to forget, but it's like the image was burned into my retinas…"

"Yeah… whipping out sensual massage oil on the first date is probably not the way to Rose's heart," Emmett sighed. "Doesn't anyone around here know anything about dating?"

"You can ask my brother," Jasper shrugged. "Peter's always had chicks hanging off of him."

"Great," Emmett said. "Where is he?"

"PETER!" Jasper screamed.

"WHAT?" comes the scream from the room across the hall.

"GET YOUR UGLY ASS IN HERE!" Jasper yelled back.

"FINE! I'M COMING!" Peter yelled. The door opened a few seconds later. "So, what are you bros up to?"

"Emmett wants to impress a chick, but he's shot down every idea we've given him," Jasper said, not pausing the game and then shooting at Edward's character before he had time to reclaim his controller.

"Well, what does she like to do," Peter asked.

"She volunteers a lot at the hospital… and she's good friends with Ms. Cope…" Emmett begins.

"Rose Hale?" Peter nodded. "She's cute. Of course, I prefer brunettes."

"I just want to do something unique and special… Rose… a lot of people have said stuff about her…" Emmett said. "I want her to know that I think she's important and that I'm not playing her or whatever…"

"I hear you," Peter said. "So… what else does she like to do?"

"Cars," Emmett shrugged.

"There's a car show in Port Angeles this weekend," Peter mentioned. "This drive-in restaurant sponsors them once a month to capitalize on being retro and bring in customers. You could take her there, have dinner and then go bowling. It'd be cool."

"That does sound cool," Emmett nodded. "I think she'd like that. Jasper, how come you can't be smart like your brother?"

"I guess I just got all of the genes for being suave, good-looking and talented," Jasper shrugged.

"And the genes for having massive stink bomb farts that require gas masks after you eat beans," Peter shot back. "Seriously, though, I'm the family romance expert."

"Then how come I have a girlfriend and you don't?" Jasper asked.

"Because Charlotte and I are taking a break for the summer," Peter rolled his eyes. "The long distance thing is just too complicated."

"She lives in Aberdeen. It's like two hours away," Jasper pointed out.

"Yeah, two hours one way," Peter shook his head. "Anyway, see you kids later. Have fun on your date, Emmett."

"Your brother is cool," Emmett told Jasper.

"Yeah," Jasper snorted. "See how cool he is after sharing a bathroom with him."

* * *

_3:03 p.m. – Stanley Residence_  
"So, where is he taking you?" Alice asked.

Alice had somehow rounded up Bella and Rose for an afternoon of coloring at Jessica's. Whitney was there as well and Mrs. Stanley had provided the girls with cookies, lemonade and other treats while they hung out together. Bella was helping a giggling Jessica pick out the new glitter crayons Alice had found while Whitney was smiling, watching her cousin having a blast. Rose and Alice were at the other side of the table, Rose coloring a unicorn from one of the many print out sheets Mrs. Stanley had gotten for Jessica while Alice tried a free-hand design with markers on a blank piece of paper. While Whitney, Bella and Jessica laughed on the other side of the table, Rose had shared with Alice how Emmett had caught up with her and her mother at the grocery store that morning and then asked her out after making some very awkward conversation.

"He said he needed some time to plan something… whatever that means… but he then he texted me and asked if I was free Saturday," Rose said. "I think he's bent on whatever it is being a surprise."

"Aw, that's adorable," Alice grinned.

"I think it's a little nerve-wracking," Rose sighed. "How am I supposed to dress? What do I need to be prepared for? Royce was a loser, but at least I knew he was going to take me out to grab a bite to eat, to see a movie and then would try to coax me into his backseat then act all put out when I didn't."

"I don't think Emmett will act like that," Alice shrugged. "And if you're so worried about wearing something appropriate, just ask him what he thinks would be appropriate to wear. There's no harm in it."

"I guess," Rose sighed. "I'm just nervous… it's been forever since I went on a real date since… I mean, after Royce and I broke up guys approached me, but it definitely wasn't to ask me out on a date."

""It'll be fine," Alice shrugged. "Just show up looking hot and let him do the rest."

"What happened to Ms. Ultra-Feminist?" Rose asked.

"What? I can still be about girl power and want to look nice," Alice shrugged. "Besides, the right outfit can give you a big boost of confidence. He's a nice guy. He likes you. Don't overanalyze the whole thing. Just go and have fun"

"Advice I'm sure you followed on your first date with Jasper?" Rose snorted. Alice rolled her eyes.

"Just be yourself, Rose," Alice said. "You're pretty awesome, so you should stick with you."

"Alright," Rose sighed, "but I reserve the right to call you if I freak out in the middle of this thing."

"Deal," Alice grinned.

* * *

_4:56 p.m. – Forks Police Department Offices_  
Charlie Swan looked at the clock on the wall opposite his desk and sighed. Things had fallen back into their usual routine at the department, but that didn't mean he would be getting off work at the regular time. The federal and state officers had left the previous week to go back to their home offices and file their various reports on the shooting. Scanner calls were now back to normal in Forks as well with the usual fender benders in the grocery store parking lot, moose invading people's backyards and the occasional domestic incident or kids playing their stereos too loud. On the surface, it was as if nothing had changed and Forks had reverted back to the sleepy little town it had always been.

Of course, that was only on the surface. He knew many of his officers were taking advantage of the counseling sessions for law enforcement they were offering along with the kids' sessions down at the community center. He himself had sat in on a few. He had also been counseling many of the younger officers himself who had come to their chief with unanswerable questions about why something like this had happened in their town. Some of these officers were fresh out of school themselves, not too much older from the kids they had seen killed and wounded. Charlie himself knew of several officers retired from the Forks force that had never seen a single murder scene let alone a school become one. It had been hard for all of them, but Charlie was a bit surprised there had yet been no resignations by officers who felt law enforcement wasn't for them after this incident. He himself had momentarily considered turning in his badge, but decided he could do more good in his current position.

Charlie's contemplation of his force was interrupted with the ringing of his phone. He sighed and looked at the stack of paperwork on his desk yet to be completed before picking up the receiver. It was the department secretary forwarding him a call from Renee. With a slight smile, he answered his wife as the call was transferred over.

"I just wanted to see when you'd be home for dinner," Renee asked.

"I'm shooting to get out of here at five-thirty, but it might be six," Charlie sighed. "I wish it could be sooner."

"Well, at least it'll give me time to make something more complex," Renee shrugged.

"I've just got mountains of paperwork," Charlie sighed. "Three separate fender benders downtown and everyone has to get a police report for their insurance on what is a mere scratch."

"I won't keep you long because I know you've got work," Renee sighed. "I think Bella just got home. I'll rope her into cooking with me."

"Alright," Charlie said. "And remind her I don't want her talking on her cell phone while she drives. I am not replacing her truck if she backs into a metal light pole because she's too busy talking to someone."

"Okay," Renee laughed.

Charlie progressed through the various files and paperwork that had found its way to his desk for approval, a cursory glance or additional information. It was a little later than he would have liked when he got down to the final file in the big stack that was on his desk, waiting to be gone through. He moved the finished stack of paper work and folders into his outbox for the secretary to take care of when she showed up the next morning for work and then opened the remaining file. He felt a cold chill, an unwelcome blast from the past as he opened it up to realize this was the file on James Hunter, Sr. He had pulled it for the feds and states officers in the days following the shooting as they wanted to know everything they could about Jimmy Hunter. The kid himself had a very thin file in the juvenile department, just a few trespassing issues at his ex-girlfriend's house and then he had been picked up for shoplifting cough syrup and tissues for his sick little sister. The majority of his infractions were fights in his school file.

However, whereas Junior hadn't had time to build much of a criminal record, Senior had a thick file that went back to his teenage years. There were untold drunk and disorderly charges, assaults and various domestic calls. He had been pulled over for drunk driving several times and had actually done a stint in jail when Jimmy was younger for beating a guy senseless with a pool cue during a bar fight. There was a lull in bad behavior between when he got out of prison and when his daughter was born, but soon after that he was back up to his usual tricks. He was a frequent flier in almost every squad car and overnight guest in basically every jail in all of Clallam County. In his later years, he hadn't been charged though because his wife had always been too afraid to bring domestic charges against her husband and his buddies managed to talk others out of filing charges when he assaulted them in a drunken rage. It was too bad no one had the courage to stand up to him. It had tied Charlie's hands and the hands of any other officer who responded to these calls. With a sigh, Charlie closed the file and decided to head home.

It was a welcoming site when he finally arrived home for the evening. From the front porch he could already hear the sounds of his wife and daughter in the kitchen laughing and singing along with the Oldies radio station. As he walked into the house, took off his holster and placed it in the drawer of a table in the hallway, Charlie couldn't help but be thankful he had a home that was a refuge after his long days at work. It had always been a relief to him to come home to his wife and little girl after a hard day at the office. Sure, things were stressful if he came home to find a frazzled Renee either dealing with a sick or stubborn child but he would take the time spent at home over the things he had to deal with at work any day.

"How are my girls tonight?" Charlie asked, walking in to the kitchen. He couldn't help but smile when he saw his wife and daughter beaming back at him.

"Hi, daddy," Bella grinned.

"What're you two making?" Charlie asked, sauntering over to the stove.

"We've got a meatloaf in the oven and Bella is trying her hand at my mother's fried squash," Renee said. "We've got mashed potatoes too and a black berry cobbler."

"Sounds delicious," Charlie nodded. "You need me to set the table or anything?"

"If you would that would be great," Renee nodded. "We're finishing up here."

"Alright," Charlie said, moving to get out the plates and silverware. "You both have a good day today?"

"Yeah," Bella nodded. "We went over to see Jessica. Her mom says she really enjoys getting to color with us. I think she and her mom get a little lonely since they aren't able to get out and about as much with Jessica… like she is now. Whitney said it's been tough on Mrs. Stanley. They went to the grocery store last week and she couldn't handle all the people whispering and staring at Jess."

"Mean people," Renee shook her head. "It isn't something they can help. I wish people in this town weren't so nosy… A family should be able to grocery shop in peace."

"It's the new curiosity, unfortunately," Charlie agreed. "I'm sure someone will shoot a big coyote or catch a record trout or salmon and everyone will move on."

"Upcoming fishing trip Dad?" Bella teased.

"No, but I do need to call Billy and Harry and set one up," Charlie said. "It's been a while since we've been out and it'd be nice to get out on the water and not think about work for a while."

"It would be nice to have some fresh fish," Renee nodded. Charlie tried not to shoot her a disbelieving look. Usually, she hated when he chose to spend his weekend fishing with his buddies, feeling as though it was all a ploy to get out of spending time with her. Then again, he and Renee had both been working on being more understanding since they had started counseling.

"Oh, hon," Charlie said. "Remind me to make sure the lid is fastened tight on the trash can tomorrow, especially on the rare chance there's any of your cobbler residue in it. We had to chase a moose cow and two of her little ones out of the Higgins' yard this morning because mama thought she found something tasty in the garbage. I swear we lose more cruisers to moose than anything else."

"Better moose than bears," Renee said. The phone rang and Bella announced she was off to get it, sure the phone call was from Alice.

"So, you'd be fine if I called the fella's up for some fishing this weekend or next?" Charlie asked.

"Sure," Renee nodded. "You deserve a break after everything you've been dealing with these past few months. I think it would do you some good."

"Okay," Charlie nodded. "You know, I probably don't tell you enough, but there's nothing that makes a tough day at work better than coming home to one of your home-made meals; Especially if there's leftovers in the works for lunch tomorrow."

"Is something up?" Renee asked curiously. "You've seemed a little off tonight…"

"I found James Hunter, Sr.'s file on my desk tonight," Charlie sighed. "It somehow got buried in all my paperwork today… I just opened it up without realizing what I was opening and… It seemed like his record was longer than I remembered. All those charges… I should have done more…"

"Sweetie, there was nothing you could have done. Your hands were tied," Renee shook her head. "You can't help people who won't reach out for you…"

"The entire reason I became a cop was so I could stop guys like my dad from beating up on women like my mother," Charlie shook his head. "And here I am just as helpless as I was as a kid to stop it…I wish I could have done more…"

"Even if you could do more, it still wouldn't be enough for you Charlie Swan," Renee smirked. "You'd save the whole world if it'd let you."

"I know," Charlie sighed as they heard Bella's laugh coming from the other room, "but I can promise you now if Bells ever gets involved with a guy like that… I'll kill him."

"I wouldn't expect any less," Renee shook her head with a smirk. She gave her husband a kiss and then turned her attention back to the kitchen stove.

* * *

**End Note:**  
_An estimated 1.3 million women will be victims of physical abuse by a spouse or partner this year. Between 30 and 60 percent of men who abuse their female partner will also abuse children living in the same household. The majority of these cases will never be reported to police. _

_Only 25 percent of all physical assaults, 20 percent of all rapes and 50 percent of stalking committed against women by a former or current partner are reported to police. Only 20 percent of women who experience intimate partner violence will file for a protection order. Of those 20 percent who do seek protection orders, 50 percent will see their protection order violated._

_According to a survey by the National Network to End Domestic Violence, 63 percent of homeless women report being domestically abuse and 92 percent of homeless women with children report domestic abuse. _

_Last year, costs of domestic violence including hospital visits, police work, legal costs, missed work and lost productivity took $37 billion out of the American economy._


	34. Chapter 34

**This is a day late and a dollar short because my internet has been out. Thanks so super beta dowlingnana for editing it so quickly!**

* * *

_A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge. – Thomas Carlyle, Scottish writer_

* * *

_Saturday, June 21, 2008_  
_8:30 p.m. – Laurel Lanes Bowling Alley, Port Angeles_

As Emmett left to go pick them up a snack from the concession stands at the bowling alley, Rose couldn't help but text Alice to give her an update on how their date was going. They had both been victims of the first date jitters at the beginning, and it was obvious Emmett was feeling more nervous than she was, a fact Rose almost found hard to believe. He had shown up at her door with a bouquet of tulips – he had told her later he picked tulips because a bouquet of roses seemed to be an obvious and lame choice given her name – and then had talked patiently with her dad while Alice finished pinning up her hair. Jasper had apparently leaked some details of what Emmett was planning to Rose and though Alice wouldn't exactly say what they were doing, she had dressed Rose in a modern-rockabilly chic.

Rose had to admit Emmett scored major points in her parents' books. He was very nice and sweet to them, and not in the way that Royce had been only to their faces. He and Mr. Hale had chatted about sports for a while and had complimented her mother on the smell of baked chicken – which Mrs. Hale shyly admitted was actually picked up from the grocery store deli. Rose could tell Emmett was nervous on the drive there as he kept nervously tapping his fingers against the steering wheel and repeatedly asking her if the radio station was okay. His desire to impress her was endearing, and instead of focusing on her own nerves Rose found herself more preoccupied with assuring Emmett she was just as happy as him to be there.

Of course, Rose's excitement about the evening quickly overtook Emmett's when they got to their destination. She was glad Emmett had suggested she might want to bring along her digital camera, though she had been a little creeped out when he made the initial suggestion. However, within a few seconds of Emmett putting his car in park, she had tossed him the camera and was having him take photos of her with all of the classic cars at the car show he had taken them to. Rose had more fun than Emmett chatting up the old men and their classic hot rods asking questions about the engines, horsepower and restoration work Emmett couldn't always follow. However, it was clear Rose knew her cars and was having the time of her life, especially when the owner of a mint condition, cherry red 1965 Mustang convertible let Emmett take her picture sitting in the driver's seat.  
0  
After looking at the cars in the parking lot, they headed into the diner hosting the car show for burgers and fries. Rose picked a seat by the window so she could continue to look at the cars while the waitress on roller skates took their orders to the sounds of Buddy Holly emanating from the jukebox. It was a little kitschy, but they were both having fun. Emmett even had taken a few pictures of the Camaros in the parking lot for his own personal admiration. They flipped through the pictures on Rose's camera together as they waited for their milkshakes to arrive.

"How did you find out about this?" Rose asked Emmett curiously.

"I've eaten here before," Emmett shrugged. "My parents have a thing for themed-diners… but Jasper's brother Peter told me about the car show and I thought you might like it… since you told me about how you and your dad work on cars together and stuff…"

"It's really neat," Rose grinned.

"They do it once a month, apparently," Emmett said. "There's like a local car club that gets together and sponsors it. They bring out their cars and everyone else pays a small entry fee to bring there's as well. The restaurant owner is a member of the club and thought it was a good way to draw in business since the diner is 50's themed and all."

"I'm going to have to tell my dad about this," Rose nodded. "He'd love this kind of thing. I'm glad you brought me."

"I'm glad you like it," Emmett blushed.

By seven-thirty that night, they had left the diner and car show for the nearby bowling alley where Emmett paid for their game but Rose insisted on paying for her own shoes. Her parents had given her some money just in case she needed it and while Emmett wanted to pay for the meal and the bowling game, Rose felt like she should chip in a little bit. She knew Emmett's family wasn't exactly rolling in the dough and though her family was by no means the wealthiest in Forks, they did live in one of the more pricey neighborhoods and could afford more than a lot of the other families in town. During the game, Rose found she and Emmett were evenly matched in skill when it came to bowling, though Emmett was slightly ahead due to a couple of strikes and a split. Of course, Emmett's usual competitive streak was downplayed and he didn't really seem to care who won or what he score was.

"I got us sodas, waffle fries, and a big pretzel to split," Emmett announced as he brought the food back to the table, setting it down before Rose.

"Thanks," she grinned. "So… how is football conditioning going?"

"Pretty good, even though we're just in the early stages," Emmett said. "Coach will probably whittle down all of the tryouts to the final team sometime in the next week or so. Then we'll vote on captain and stuff will really get intense. July is always the worst month of conditioning and practice because it's hot and that's when coach is working us the hardest. This was the first day all week I wasn't up at like five in the morning to get ready for practice."

"How long do you practice?" Rose asked.

"Seven in the morning until noon," Emmett said. "It gets hot then and sometimes he will call us back for reviewing the playbooks and stuff like that at three or four, but it's mainly early in the morning type stuff. It was pretty warm today. I think I drank a whole gallon of water during the entire thing."

"That's a lot," Rose whistled.

"You have to keep yourself cool that way," Emmett shrugged. "If you aren't putting the right stuff in while you're conditioning you get pretty sick. I learned that the hard way freshman year, and I'm never going to do it ever again."

"I remember I got queasy the first time I watched them wheel an emergency patient through the hospital," Rose nodded. "I've grown a bit immune to it now, though. I guess working with it sort helps me build up a resistance."

"I think what you do in the hospital is a lot harder than what I do on the football field," Emmett shrugged. "I don't think anything I do is as bad as changing bed pans."

"I told you, we don't have to change bed pans," Rose laughed.

"Yeah, but you have to look at them," Emmett shook his head. "Those things are gross."

"I can't argue there," Rose smirked.

"And… probably isn't the best type of conversation for this evening…." Emmett blushed.

"No, it's fine," Rose laughed. "You wanna get back to the game?"

"Sure," Emmett grinned.

* * *

_Sunday, June 22, 2008_  
_1 p.m. – Swan Residence_  
"We need to have another sleepover," Alice said as she flipped through a magazine on Bella's bed. "We haven't had one in forever."

"Just us," Bella asked curiously, looking up from the book she was reading.

"Maybe bigger than us," Alice said. "We could do it at my place. Cynthia could be there. We could invite Rose and maybe Whitney if she isn't doing anything. I'd like to invite Jess too, but I don't think her mother would let her come. And Angela… if she would come…"

"So, a big sleepover," Bella smirked.

"Well, it is summer," Alice shrugged. "And I think it would be good for us to do something fun."

"You're not having fun with Jasper?" Bella teased.

"Yeah, because my parents would totally be on board if I invited Jasper over for a sleepover," Alice rolled her eyes. "Seriously, though, I need some girl time."

"I thought that was what all this was about," Bella said.

"Yeah, but I want makeovers and watching musicals and singing Motown into hairbrushes," Alice shrugged. "And even though you aren't as keen on getting your hair done up and nails painted, I think Alice might indulge me."

"Well, if you can convince your parents to surrender their house to a horde of teenage girls for an evening, I'll go along with it," Bella said. "Though you do realize my dad will probably instruct one of his patrolmen to drive by the house at least each half-hour to make sure there aren't any guys coming over and that we're all behaving."

"Why do you think we're having it at my house and not at yours?" Alice giggled. "Besides, your dad isn't all that bad. He's just got you to keep track of. I think my dad would be a lot more overprotective if he didn't have to divide his time between me and Cyn."

"So, have you heard from Rose about how yesterday night went?" Bella asked.

"Not yet," Alice shook her head. "But I think they had a good time. Jasper told me Emmett took her out to a car show and then out bowling. I think Rose would enjoy that sort of thing."

"Emmett's pretty thoughtful," Bella agreed. "Much more than I think people give him credit for."

"Rose seems to like him enough," Alice agreed. "And he's pretty goofy. I think she likes that. Now all we have to work on is snagging Edward Cullen for you."

"Alice!" Bella hissed.

"What? The guy saved your life," Alice shrugged. "The least you could do is to kiss him with some tongue."

"You are terrible," Bella shook her head, trying to hide her face behind her book so Alice wouldn't see her blushing.

"He thinks you're cute," Alice said. "He's always staring at you and he stammers a lot whenever he's around you… well, more than he normally does…"

"He's shy," Bella said defensively.

"Which is why we have to work on bringing him out of his shell if he's going to ask you out," Alice rolled her eyes. "You've already hung out with him at his house, right?"

"Yeah," Bella admitted. "And I ran into him at the bookstore in Port Angeles."

"When was this?" Alice demanded to know.

"When Mom and I went shopping the other weekend. I thought I told you," Bella said. "Mom went shopping for lingerie…"

"And you hid in the bookstore," Alice nodded.

"Mrs. Cullen was apparently shopping in the same lingerie store, so Edward was hiding in the bookstore too," Bella explained.

"He goes shopping with his mom?" Alice said, while her nose wrinkled. "Are you sure he's not…"

"His dad was there too," Bella said. "I think they were all out as a family…"

"Dr. and Mrs. Cullen must be a bit more open than my folks," Alice said. "I don't think my parents would ever let us know if they went shopping for sexy lingerie together."

"Can we not go down this path?" Bella shook her head.

"Oh, come on, Bells. Who do you think your Mom was buying sexy lingerie for, huh?" Alice teased.

"We've been over this, Alice," Bella shook her head. "I was the result of the second Immaculate Conception. The stork brought me."

"Whatever," Alice rolled her eyes. "The point is if he doesn't make a move soon you're going to have to."

"I'm a girl," Bella pointed out.

"This isn't the 1950s," Alice rolled her eyes. "We can ask boys out; especially the clueless ones. Besides, he just needs a little encouragement…"

"I really don't like where this is going," Bella grumbled.

"Come on, Bella, you like the guy and he's really nice," Alice said. "And I don't want you to feel like a fifth wheel now that I have Jasper and Rose has Emmett…"

"Thanks for putting that thought in my head," Bella scowled.

"Rose should have some good ideas," Alice said. "We can talk about it at my sleepover."

"I would rather this not be the main focus of your sleepover," Bella snorted.

"What would a sleepover be without a little guy talk?" Alice rolled her eyes. "Come on, Bells. You like him, don't you?"

"Yeah," Bella admitted sheepishly.

"And it's obvious he likes you," Alice said. "We just need the two of you to get out of your shells."

"Why do I feel like this involved another Alice patented hair-brained scheme?" Bella groaned.

"You know me too well," Alice smirked.

* * *

_7 p.m. – Whitlock Residence_  
With their mother accompanying the still unable to drive on her own Ms. Cope to a monthly charity board meeting, Peter and Jasper had been left home that evening with the express orders of not causing any property damage or getting into any trouble. The order that they stay home and out of trouble had canceled Jasper's plans for the evening, which had involved asking Alice if she wanted to come over under the premise of watching a movie but actually just to make out a little. Peter's plans to carouse the town with his high school buddies, who were also trapped in Forks for the summer, were dashed as well. As a result, the two brothers found themselves surrounded by empty pizza boxes as they battled out their sibling rivalry via Jasper's Xbox.

"Do you think Mom will be home soon?" Jasper asked, looking at the clock as Peter took another swig of the two-liter soda bottle he had pilfered from the fridge downstairs.

"Even if she does come home, I think she'll tell you it's too late to go over and see your girlfriend," Peter teased. Jasper frowned and took a swig of his own soda. He figured the two 20-ounce bottles he had already downed didn't yet equal the full two-liter Peter had nearly polished off.

"Yeah, but I haven't seen Alice since…" Jasper began.

"Yesterday?" Peter snorted.

"I could go and you don't have to tell her," Jasper bargained.

"Excuse me? I'm the oldest and therefore the responsible one Mom left in charge," Peter snorted. "I am not getting in trouble for letting you out of the house to make out with your chick. Seriously, you aren't going to spontaneously combust if you don't see her every day. And didn't you talk to her on the phone earlier?"

"We were just texting," Jasper shook his head, though Peter didn't seem to see the difference.

"Dude, you have it _bad_ for this girl," Peter laughed.

"What's wrong with that?" Jasper asked.

"Nothing… it's just… high school," Peter shrugged.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Jasper demanded.

"Just…maybe you shouldn't get so attached," Peter said. "In a year, you'll both be in college… maybe not even at the same school or in the same part of the country… and if that's the case, I hate to break it to you both most of those long-distance relationships from high school don't last when you start college. I mean, Charlotte and I go to the same school but we couldn't even make it work over the summer."

"That's different," Jasper said.

"It's always different," Peter rolled his eyes.

"No, this is different because this is me and Alice," Jasper shook his head. "And I'm not going to break up with her or take how I feel about her less seriously just because you're a Debbie Downer who's too lazy to even call the girl he likes and thinks that it's not worth staying with someone who lives _two hours_ away. I mean, it's such a long drive. It's not like you have to drive four hours one way to get to school from Forks… oh wait…"

"I'm just looking out for you," Peter said defensively. "Alice is a nice chick and you like her, but… I'm worried about you getting hurt. For all you know, college applications will start going out and she'll realize you two are going to separate schools and break up with you… And heaven forbid you try to stay together despite going to separate schools only to show up for a surprise visit to her dorm and find her going down on some other guy? That happened to my buddy Brady and he's still not over it…"

"Alice isn't like that," Jasper said. "And I should pop you one for even suggesting…"

"Calm down," Peter insisted. "Hey, for all I know you could meet some new chick when you go to college and forget all about Alice." Peter was not prepared for Jasper to tackle him but the older, stronger brother was quickly able to subdue Jasper, who resorted to wiggling in an attempt to get out from under his brother. "You do realize Mom told us not to break anything, right?"

"Get off me!" Jasper said, still trying to break free.

"Look, I'm not saying anything bad about you or Alice. I told you I think she's a nice chick," Peter said. "But I don't think there's harm in being realistic."

"She's my first girlfriend. I'd much rather be blissfully unaware," Jasper grimaced. Peter had let up a little and allowed him to wriggle out.

"I still think you two should at least talk about… expectations," Peter said. "About how long she sees this going so you both are on the same page… it can't hurt."

"It couldn't hurt you to call Charlotte and tell her you're a loser who's afraid of commitment and unwilling to meet her halfway both emotionally and geographically," Jasper snorted. "Maybe then I'll talk with Alice."

"I'll think about it," Peter said as they heard the front door swing open. "Shit… we need to clean up these boxes before Mom flips…"

"Hey," Jasper smirked at him. "You're the responsible one she left in charge."

* * *

**End Note:**  
_There is a strong connection between mood disorders like depression and substance abuse. Studies by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found those who have been treated for major depression have higher rates of alcoholism and drug addiction than the rest of the population. _

_The study found teens suffering with depression often "self-medicate" with drugs like alcohol and marijuana, which can temporarily produce the brain chemicals they are lacking that lead to depression. However, the "lows" after the chemically induced highs of these drugs can make depression worse, an effect known as "backlash" or "withdrawal depression."_

_Girls who experience dating violence are also more likely to self-medicate with drugs or alcohol and experience suicidal thoughts or make suicide attempts than girls who are not abused by boyfriends. Girls who experience dating violence between the age of 12 and 18 three times as more likely to enter into a relationship with an abuser as an adult, according to the American Society of Pediatrics_


	35. Chapter 35

**Thanks to dowlingnana**

* * *

_"I have a hand, and you have another; put them together and we have each other" - Girl Scout motto_

* * *

_Thursday, June 26, 2008_

_8 p.m. – Brandon Residence_

Bella had no idea how quickly Alice had pulled this entire sleepover thing together, but she had to hand it to her best friend. The night had started out at 6 p.m. with pizza and getting everyone's beds set up in the living room. Mrs. Stanley had brought Jessica over to color, watch a movie, get her hair braided, nails painted and have a little girl time before taking Jessica back home for bed at 8 p.m. It was obvious Mrs. Stanley was glad to see Jessica being involved and having her cousin there helped Whitney adjust to the thought of staying overnight with Alice and the other girls from group. There were six of them total staying the full night at the Brandon residence: Alice, Bella, Rose, Angela, Whitney and Cynthia._  
_

Bella had no idea how quickly Alice had pulled this entire sleepover thing together, but she had to hand it to her best friend. The night had started out at 6 p.m. with pizza and getting everyone's beds set up in the living room. Mrs. Stanley had brought Jessica over to color, watch a movie, get her hair braided; nails painted and have a little girl time before taking Jessica back home for bed at 8 p.m. It was obvious Mrs. Stanley was glad to see Jessica being involved and having her cousin there helped Whitney adjust to the thought of staying overnight with Alice and the other girls from group. There were six of them total staying the full night at the Brandon residence: Alice, Cynthia, Bella, Rose, Whitney and Angela who had come last but had shown up none-the-less.

Angela had been kind and especially sensitive around Jessica, though Alice wasn't sure if Whitney was yet ready to accept Angela fully after what had happened at their group meeting. Once Jessica had gone home, Angela had turned to fellow introvert Bella while Rose gushed to Whitney, Cynthia and Alice about her first date with Emmett and how well it had gone. While Angela told Bella about her preparations to leave for camp in a few weeks, Bella couldn't help but notice Angela seemed to be straining to hear pieces of conversation the other girls were having. Bella was sure if Angela was just eavesdropping or trying to find a way to include herself.

"So… how are things with Ben?" Bella asked, hoping to maybe include Angela in a bit of the girl talk.

"Good," Angela nodded. "He's been over a few times. My mom likes him. My dad isn't so sure… he has a lot of fun playing with my brothers, though, so they like when he comes over. I've been over to his place a few times too. His parents are nice and his older sister has been around more now that school is out. She's going to an art school in Portland and seems to really enjoy her time there."

"Have you guys gone out any?" Bella asked.

"Not really," Angela blushed. "My parents… are kind of strict about dating. They only want us around chaperones… so group dates and outings and then being over at each other's houses with parental supervision…"

"That must totally suck," Whitney chimed it. "I would go nuts if my parents were that overprotective."

"They just want what's best for me," Angela shrugged. "And I need a lot of familial support to keep my purity pledge…"

"You're what?" Whitney sputtered.

"It's a vow girls make to stay chaste until marriage," Angela said.

"Why?" Whitney laughed.

"It's a personal decision, I'm sure," Bella said defensively.

"Seems a little old fashioned to me," Whitney snorted. "And how many boys in your church had to do this same thing?"

"A few," Angela grimaced.

"What about your boyfriend?" Whitney asked.

"Ben understands," Angela said, tilting her head up defensively.

"He should," Rose agreed. "Guys should understand no means no, that I'm not ready means I'm not ready and don't rush me. Royce never seemed to get that. He always tried to play the 'if you'd love me you'd do it' card. And then when we broke up over it he completely ruined my reputation and spread all these rumors and… it was like he was punishing me, you know? It was like since I didn't put out for him he was going to make everyone think I had anyway. And for whatever reason everyone was more ready to believe I was a slut than they were that I'd turned him down."

"So… you're like… still a virgin?" Whitney said, surprised. Rose blushed.

"Yeah, but there's nothing wrong with it," Rose shrugged.

"Please tell me I'm not the only girl in this room who's… you know?" Whitney said, her turn to be embarrassed.

"Jasper and I haven't even been together a month," Alice snorted. "And Cynthia here's like fourteen."

"Yeah," Cynthia giggled awkwardly.

"And my dad's seen to it I've never been alone in a room with a boy since before I was in diapers," Bella snorted. "So, that would be a no."

"There's nothing wrong with not being a virgin," Rose assured Whitney. "It's a matter of choice. When it's right for you, it's right for you. That has no bearing on what anyone else has done or not done. I mean, I never really pictured myself as the type of girl who waits until marriage, but if that's what Angela wants, it's her deal and I should either support her or keep my mouth shut. And I expect her to do the same for me."

"Right," Angela said, though it was obvious she wanted to insist her way was the right way.

"It's no one any of you guys know," Whitney admitted. "I met him at camp when I was fifteen… church camp actually. I know that sounds weird but…"

"Church camp," Angela said, surprised.

"He was a minister's son, too," Whitney laughed: "From some town outside Olympia. It was a nice little summer thing and we were going to call and email back and forth afterwards… but it never happened. I was pretty broken up about it, but Jess… she helped me through…"

"I wish we had gotten a chance to know Jess's sweet side before… all of this happened," Bella said. "She sounds a lot different than how we knew her…"

"Jess… let making friends and being popular get in her way of who she really was," Whitney shrugged. "I don't think she was really happy then… even if she seemed like it. I know those people really weren't her friends. Vicky, Tanya, Jane… those girls wouldn't give her the time of day like she is now. Her other friends that survived pretend she doesn't exist when they see her… they weren't real friend and in a way… I guess I'm glad Jess will never realize that. She wouldn't be hurt by the fact that people she used to think she was so close too don't really care about her… It's a huge bag of mixed blessings in a way… but it's still tough."

"For what it's worth…" Angela said. "I think you're doing a really great job. She's lucky to have a cousin who cares as much as you do."

"Thanks," Whitney smiled.

"Alright, enough of this emotional stuff," Alice said. "Let's watch a movie and braid Bella's hair!"

"Alice!" Bella moaned.

* * *

_Friday, June 27, 2008_  
_2 p.m. – La Push Beach_

Edward had no idea why he had let Jasper, Emmett and for some reason Ben Cheney drag him out to La Push Beach that afternoon. Even if the sun rarely made an appearance in La Push, making the beach nowhere near as bright and sunny as say the shores of California or Florida, it was against Edward's very nature to be outside for long periods of time and especially at any kind of beach. After all, he was a freckled, red-head, the type of person who got third-degree sunburns sitting under bright fluorescent lights for too long. Yet here he was, sun screened up and wearing pants and a long-sleeved shirt in the hopes of not burning alive, watching in the shadows as Jasper, Emmett and Ben tossed the Frisbee back and forth on the beach.

"What's up pale faces?" a joyful voice called to them from across the beach. Edward looked over to find Jacob Black heading toward them, his arm around his girlfriend Leah while Seth jogged alongside, grinning up at Jake like he was a superhero. Behind Jake were his buddies Embry and Quil, pushing each other back and forth as they walked behind the rest.

"Hey man!" Emmett waved back. "How do you guys keep your beaches in such good condition?"

"We try to keep the riff-raff like you out!" Jake laughed before going around and giving Emmett, Jasper, Ben and even Edward some sort of fist bump handshake bro-hug thing. Edward and Ben fumbled through it while Emmett and Jasper seemed to have those sorts of things down pat.

"Dude… you know its summer, right?" Quil asked Edward.

"I burn easily," Edward grimaced. "I'm probably slightly pink under all this already."

"Too bad, man," Embry nodded, flexing his barely-there muscles. "Ladies love the caramel…"

"You're an idiot," Leah rolled her eyes at him.

"A sexy idiot," Embry grinned.

"If I murder him you're going to have to help me hide his big, ugly body," Leah informed Jake.

"Ah, come on," Embry laughed. "We're cousins, Lee!"

"You're Makah. You only live here cause your dad..." Seth pointed out before catching a glimpse of Edward's watch. "Dude, is that a nuclear watch?"

"Uh… yeah," Edward nodded. "My folks got it for me for my birthday."

"Cool! What does it do?" Seth asked.

Edward found himself taking off his watch and explaining all of its functions to Seth, who was obviously really in to science. Jake, Embry and Quil joined Ben, Emmett and Jasper with their Frisbee game while Leah sat down in the sand to sun bathe a little, keeping an eye on her boyfriend and her little brother simultaneously through her sunglasses. Seth was a pretty exuberant kid who sort of reminded Edward of a puppy. It seemed to him Seth was so excited just to be included by the older kids and it was obvious he especially looked up to Jake, not only because he was his sister's boyfriend. Jake himself seemed to look after Seth in a way an older brother would, making sure Seth was included and not picked on.

"So, when are the girls getting here?" Quil asked Emmett. The question piqued Edward's interest, wondering exactly what they meant.

"Alice told me they should be here by now…" Jasper admitted uneasily.

"They're girls," Embry shrugged, "Probably doing their hair or something."

"Well, Rose said she wanted to drop something by Ms. Cope's house before the came out," Emmett said.

Edward felt his heart speed up. Sure, they hadn't mentioned her specifically but recently wherever Alice and Rose were Bella was soon to follow. The fact that Ben was here meant Angela might be coming as well, which only intensified the likelihood Bella would be coming along as Edward could obviously see Rose and Alice both seemed to be closer to Bella than to Angela. He knew the girls had a sleepover the previous night because Jasper and Emmett had talked about crashing it. However, the fact that Charlie Swan was probably personally patrolling the house where the girls were deterred that plan. Jasper and Emmett could be stupid sometimes, but neither of them wanted to find themselves at the wrong end of Charlie's police issue Smith and Wesson.

Edward's excitement suddenly gave way to an overriding sense of nervousness. The other guys were wearing t-shirts and board shirts with flip flops. He was dressed in jeans, a long-sleeved shirt and hiking boots. He suddenly wished he looked more cool and less… Edward-y. Looking at the guys on the beach, he also wished he was more athletic like Emmett, Jake, Embry or Quil. Even being spry like Jasper who could jump through the air and catch the Frisbee being tossed would be preferable to his own scrawny shape. The only muscles he had were in his arms, probably from playing the piano, excessive video games and more personal pursuits behind the locked door of his en suite bathroom. Now, here he was in all his nerdy glory wishing he could just disappear. Naturally, when his face was turning red more from embarrassment than from the harsh glare of the sun, he heard the sounds of the giggling girls walking down the narrow path from the parking lot to the beach.

Alice was the first to break free from the bevy of five walking down the pathway. She rushed Jasper and tackled him into the sand, both of them laughing and play-wrestling each other. Ben shyly took Angela's hand and placed a peck on her lips when he thought no one was watching. Rose and Emmett stood close but not touching, awkwardly grinning at one another since their relationship was still too new for exuberant displays of affection like Alice had done. Bella got a hug from Leah and Jake then introduced Whitney to the group before Quil and Embry picked her up, threatening to toss her into the frigid ocean water. Bella managed to flail out of their grasp so they turned instead to Leah, tossing her into the ocean as she let out a string of Quileute curses at her boyfriend for not intervening. Jake just stood on the beach with Seth and laughed.

"Hi, Edward," Bella said nervously as she approached him. Edward looked up and was slightly stunned to find she wasn't dressed too differently from himself. She had on shorts and flip-flops, but she also had on a big floppy sun hat, sunglasses, and a jacket over her t-shirt. In the too big beach bag she had on her shoulder, Edward spied the same brand and SPF of sunscreen he himself wore.

"Hi," Edward said. "So…uh…how's it going?" He winced, feeling incredibly lame that he couldn't think of anything more intelligent or suave to say.

"Good," Bella said, plopping down on the sand next to him. "It'll be even better if I don't fry out here. I don't know why Alice always insists on bringing me to the beach. She knows my skin can't handle it."

"I know what you mean," Edward nodded.

"I'm guessing Emmett and Jasper dragged you down here," Bella said. "I'd never come to the beach if it were up to me, but Alice is a very persuasive best friend."

"Not so much dragged as sort of tricked me," Edward said. "We all got into Emmett's car and next thing I know they're all excited about going to the beach… I didn't want to nix that, but we did have to stop by my house for sunscreen. People who tan just don't understand, you know?"

"Yeah," Bella laughed, watching as Alice climbed on top of Jasper's shoulders to catch the Frisbee. Ben and Angela had retreated to a log to chat quietly leaving Rose, Whitney and Alice to join the Frisbee game.

"Come on losers! Let's go swimming!" Embry declared.

"It's frigid as a witch's tit you idiot!" Leah screamed at him.

However, the guys didn't care. Whether it was more idiocy or teenage bravado Bella wasn't sure, but suddenly Jake, Embry, Quil, Emmett and Jasper were all tearing off their shirts and running into the water. A tow-headed Seth wasn't too far behind. Of course, all of them shrieked like little girls when they really hit the water and ran back out. Emmett's lips were already turning blue even though he hadn't been in the water that long. The girls laughed while Leah shook her head. Seth came over and shook his wet hair out on her and she wrestled him into the sand.

"We have such weird friends," Edward shook his head. Bella laughed.

* * *

**End Note:**  
_An FBI investigation and report on school shootings titled "The School Shooter: A Threat Assessment Perspective" found simply expelling a problem student who makes threats is not a good, quick fix solution to the problem. The report states: "It is especially important that a school not deal with threats simply by kicking the problem out the door. Expelling or suspending a student for making a threat must not be a substitute for a careful threat assessment and a considered, consistent policy of intervention… If a student feels unfairly or arbitrarily treated and becomes even angrier and more bent on carrying out a violent act."_

_The report also said schools should look for "signposts" or behavioral keys and cues that might indicate whether or not a student is making an arbitrary or actual threat against a school or person. "In general, people do not switch instantly from nonviolence to violence," the report states "People do not 'snap' or decide on the spurt of the moment to meet a problem by using violence. Instead, the path toward violence is an evolutionary one, with signposts along the way."_

_These signposts can include but are not limited to: brooding about frustration or disappointment; fantasies of destruction or revenge; continued threats in writings, drawings or conversations; failing to demonstrate empathy with others; low tolerance for frustration; poor coping skills with failure, rejection, humiliation, disappointment, or anger; lack of resiliency from frustration or disappointed; failed relationships; dwelling real or perceived injustices; racial, religious and other prejudice or intolerant behaviors; depression, narcissism; alienation, dehumanizing others; a sense of entitlement; and a desperate or pathological need for attention. _


	36. Chapter 36

**Thanks to dowlingnana!**

* * *

_In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on. - Robert Frost, American poet_

* * *

_Sunday, June 29, 2008_  
_11 a.m. - Cullen Residence_

"Dad, can I ask you something?" Edward asked, peering into his dad's office.

Carlisle Cullen immediately wheeled around in his swivel chair to look over his mahogany desk and at his son, who was standing idly in the doorway. In the past, many father-son talks had happened in the office and Carlisle Cullen delighted in the times when he was able to give advice to his son. Not being particularly close with his own father, he was glad he and Edward had a fairly close relationship and liked being a guiding force for his son. It had been a while since Edward had really come to him like this over bullying at school and Carlisle was hoping this time it was something more positive his son wanted advice on.

"Sure thing," Carlisle nodded, gesturing to the seat on the other side of his desk. "Take a seat."

Edward had to admit his father's office had always interested him. In addition to his life-size skeleton, molds and models of the human brain and other body parts, Carlisle Cullen was a collector of weird knickknacks and unusual antiques. He had several medical kits from the Civil War and early 1800s containing all gruesome manner of saws, blades and instruments as well as tons of old medicine bottles and textbooks as well as a huge, antique illustration of the anatomy of man. There was a picture of Henry Gray, Thomas Linacre, John Hunter and some other famous physicians Carlisle admired throughout the room. Sometimes, visitors asked if they were Cullen ancestors, which always earned a good laugh from Carlisle.

"What can I do for you?" Carlisle asked.

"Um… well…" Edward said nervously. "I need… I need advice… about asking out a girl…"

"So, you're going to ask out Bella Swan, huh?" Carlisle asked with a slight wiggle of his eyebrows.

"Dad," Edward said embarrassedly.

"What?" Carlisle said. "She's a nice young lady and it's been rather obvious you're sort of sweet on her."

"Please, Dad, don't…" Edward shook his head. "I just… can we not make a big, huge thing about this, okay? I'm already freaking out enough as it is and… please don't tell Mom… just… not until this is a sure thing, okay? Because I really don't want her to get all excited and pester me about this only for Bella to say 'no' or tell me she thinks I'm a creep or something…"

"I don't think Bella thinks that of you," Carlisle said, "but I will respect your wishes. Your mother can be… exuberant at times. I understand that."

"Okay… so… what should I do?" Edward asked nervously.

"Well, before you even ask her I would suggest having something planned in advance… an idea of what kind of outing you want to take," Carlisle said. "Having ideas or suggestions in advance will not only show her that you have put serious thought into this and are thinking of her but it will also make you more confident when you ask. It won't be an arbitrary 'sometime' or 'some place' but a solid plan. And if she proposes something else, go with it and give her input. After all, you want her to have a good time. You don't have to do anything elaborate or make any grand gesture, but it should be a nice outing. For example, you wouldn't invite Bella to help you clean the gutters or to accompany you to a dental appointment."

"Right," Edward nodded. "Okay… so think about an idea of what to do…"

"As far as asking her, it would be best to do in private so she doesn't feel pressured," Carlisle continued. "Asking her in front of friends could end up humiliating for one or both of you. Making her feel pressured to answer in front her friends isn't a good idea. She could either accept or reject you for the wrong reasons in that case…"

"What do I do… if she rejects me?" Edward asked nervously.

"I honestly don't think that will happen," Carlisle smirked, "but if it does take it like a man. Don't badger her or pressure her or get angry with her. That's a surefire way to make sure she'll never consider you again. But, if she does say yes, be polite and make sure you discuss what you've planned. On the night of the excursion itself, I would bring her flowers or some sort of candy if you know she has a preference or a favorite. Be polite and respectful to her parents and show them you will be polite and respectful to her. And be polite and respectful to her. I don't think I need to remind you this isn't the home run derby son. Treat it more like batting practice…"

"I don't like where these baseball analogies are going," Edward groaned.

"I'm just saying, most young ladies don't appreciate a guy getting fresh on a first date," Carlisle said. "And if you have any intention of turning this into a quick run around the bases, I would suggest a different girl than Bella Swan."

"Dad, please," Edward said, feeling like he needed his inhaler so he wouldn't hyperventilate. "I'm not going to… I mean… I haven't even asked…"

"Just checking; it's my prerogative as a father," Carlisle shrugged. "Make sure you have her home on time, see her in to make sure she's safe and if at any point she wants to go home or leave, you don't pressure her into staying. You take her home safely, understood?"

"Why would she want to leave?" Edward asked nervously.

"Women are sometimes mysterious creatures. You have to be prepared for anything they might throw at you… sometimes literally…" Carlisle shrugged. "Well, have I answered all your questions?"

"And then some," Edward muttered.

"Alright," Carlisle said, clapping his son on the back. "Got get her, tiger."

"_Dad_!"

* * *

_Monday, June 30, 2008_  
_1 p.m. – Swan Residence_

"So, what happened?" Alice demanded to know as she flopped down next to Bella on her bed.

Bella had wanted to call Alice with the news, but when the first sentence left her lips Alice insisted this was a face-to-face conversation rather than an over-the-phone conversation. Bella had waited ten minutes so Alice could drive over and they could discuss the entire thing. She hoped Alice didn't overanalyze and dissect everything because for right now Bella just wanted to be happy. After all, she would have to tell her dad about this when he got home and she had a feeling Charlie Swan wasn't going to be too enthused about this latest event in his only daughter's life.

"I was at the supermarket with Mom," Bella said, "you know, buying stuff for dinner tonight… groceries and…"

"Boring!" Alice pronounced.

"And his Mom had sent him there to pick up flour and some butter because she was baking and ran out of…" Bella started again.

"Ugh! Come on, Bella!" Alice groaned. "Get to the good stuff!"

"I'm getting to that point," Bella rolled her eyes. "Anyway, he asked me if I had seen that comedy… you know the one with…"

"He asked you to see a movie?" Alice said.

"No, he asked me if I _wanted_ to see it," Bella snorted. "Then he said he wanted to see it too, and he said that maybe we could go see it this weekend…" Alice squealed. "And then I asked him if he wanted me to ask you and Rose…"

"Oh my _gawd_, Bella you didn't!" Alice groaned.

"I didn't know he just wanted to go with me!" Bella insisted. "Then he said 'Well, I guess you could ask them, but I kind of thought it would be better with just the two of us.'"

"Go, Edward!" Alice grinned.

"And I said 'okay' and asked him when he thought would be good," Bella said. "And he said Friday night if I didn't have anything else. You know, the theaters are crowded on Friday nights, but since this one's been out a few weeks it won't be as crowded…"

"The highlights, Bella," Alice said. "Give me the highlights."

"I'm just telling you what he said!" Bella insisted. "Anyway, I told him Friday night was fine and he asked if I wanted to get dinner beforehand because we could do it here or there. And I told him there's a lot more options in Port, so we both settled on Bella Italia because we both like Italian food…"

"I thought you didn't like that restaurant because it has your name in it?" Alice said.

"It's got good food," Bella said. "I don't like how you always call it 'my' restaurant and try to tease me into making a scene and telling everyone that I'm Bella Italia. It's childish."

"Your dad thinks it's funny," Alice shrugged.

"My dad thinks Jeff Foxworthy is the greatest comedian who ever lived and misquotes him constantly," Bella pointed out.

"Well, this is exciting! You're going on your first date!" Alice squealed. "We have to plan your outfit!"

"Come on, Alice," Bella rolled her eyes. "You know my dad. He's going to kill Edward Cullen tonight after I tell him…"

"Tell your mom first. She'll back you up," Alice shrugged. "I mean, seriously, of all the guys in town I can't see Charlie flipping out over Edward Cullen. He wears argyle sweaters, plays the piano and is extremely polite to everyone."

"What are you trying to say?" Bella asked.

"Nothing," Alice shook her head. "He's just a nice guy. Besides, he kind of did save your life. You might want to remind your dad of that if he gets too out of hand."

"I don't know if that will help," Bella sighed. "You know how Charlie Swan logic works: the worst thing that can happen will. I'm sure he's just going to decide to clean his guns for the summer Friday night. And Dad has insisted I'm living at home and remaining a virgin until I'm forty or he's dead, whichever comes last."

"He just says that," Alice shook her head. "My dad wasn't exactly over the moon that I was going out with Jasper, but the two of them get along pretty well, now. And he likes having another guy around to back him up whenever Mom, Cyn and I gang up on him. Now, let's find you something sexy to wear."

"Because Dad will really let me out of the house if he thinks I'm trying to look sexy," Bella sighed.

"Come on! Be excited!" Alice encouraged her. "Now, pants or skirt? Decisions, decisions…"

* * *

_6 p.m. _

Bella had no clue how she was going to approach her father about her date Friday night, but luckily she had her mother to back her up like Alice had suggested. Renee had been excited when her daughter told her about Edward Cullen. After some tears over the fact that her daughter was growing up, she had quizzed Bella about what she was planning to wear, where the two of them were going, and any piece of trivia she could procure about Edward Cullen himself. Renee determined he had to be a nice young man, not only because he was respectful and had good parents but because he was one of the main reasons her daughter was still alive. Renee was just as romantic as Alice in some ways, and thought it was sweet the boy who had saved her daughter also had a crush on her.

However, Bella was so focused on how her father would react to the entire thing to even think about the excitement of going out with Edward. Charlie Swan had arrived home at the usual time to the smell of his wife making his favorite chili and a cold beer waiting for him in the fridge. He was a little suspicious as to why his wife was making his favorite meal. She even had made a chocolate cake for dessert, which was something she had reserved for special occasions only after Charlie's cholesterol and high blood pressure report the last time he went to the doctor. Renee was very bubbly and greeted him at the door, encouraging him to make himself comfortable at the dinner table after getting something to drink. Bella was nervously setting the table as his wife brought over the meal for the evening including the large pot of chili and plate of cornbread she had made. When they both settled into their own respective seats, Charlie leaned back in his own chair and sighed.

"Alright, you two," he said. "What's going on?" Renee and Bella shared a look between them and Charlie smirked to himself. They were pretty good as a team, but after nearly seventeen years of watching the two of them conspire together on everything from surprise parties to the time Bella and Alice broke the living room window playing badminton inside the house, Charlie could tell when his girls were up to something.

"Well, Bella was going to tell us about her plans for this Friday," Renee said, giving her daughter a slight nudge. Bella colored bright red and started pushing her supper around on her plate, not able to look her father directly in the eye.

"What's going on, Bells?" Charlie prodded.

"Um…well… Mom and I were at the store today grocery shopping," Bella began. "And I ran into Edward Cullen and he. KindofaskedmeoutforFridayand Isaidyes."

"I didn't get that last bit, Bells," Charlie gruffed.

"Charles," Renee glared at him. He sighed.

"I'll think about it," he said.

"Think about what?" Renee asked.

"Whether or not she can go," Charlie said simply.

"Charles!" Renee grimaced. "She's already said yes and he's coming to pick her up."

"Renee, that's hardly enough time to do a thorough background check," Charlie said.

"I certainly hope you're trying to crack a joke," Renee said. "Perhaps we should have just sprung this on you when he showed up to pick Bella up, hmm?"

"Well, when is he coming over?" Charlie sighed.

"Five-thirty," Bella said.

"I'll have to get off work early," Charlie nodded. "He better have you home by ten…"

"Midnight," Renee said.

"Ten," Charlie said.

"Eleven-thirty," Renee compromised. Charlie grumbled, but didn't argue any more, but grunted in the affirmative.

"I want to see him before you leave. And I want his cell phone number just in case," Charlie directed. "And you might tell him to show up a bit early so I can talk with him…"

"Dad, please don't ruin this for me," Bella begged.

"I'm your father and it's my job to make sure you're safe," Charlie replied sternly.

"Don't worry honey," Renee smiled. "You just focus on having fun, okay?"

"Not too much fun," Charlie instructed, leading Renee to roll her eyes. She changed the subject from their daughter's impending date to local town gossip, which was sufficient to distract Charlie until after supper. It was only after Bella left the room and the two of them were doing the dishes Charlie brought the subject back up again.

"I don't like this," Charlie informed Renee.

"You can't stop our little girl from growing up," Renee pointed.

"No, but I can stop her from going out with boys as long as she's living under my roof," Charlie snorted.

"You really want to deny her a typical teenage experience?" Renee rolled her eyes. "This is Edward Cullen we're talking about. He's not exactly dangerous. He has good parents, makes good grades and he's never in trouble. He doesn't even speed when he drives."

"Yeah, well, he could be hiding something," Charlie said. "I might want to give Dr. Cullen a call tomorrow… just to iron something out…"

"This is a date in high school, Charlie, not an arranged marriage," Renee sighed. "You know as well as I do he's a nice young man, and Bella could do a lot worse. She could have brought home one of those boys who has a file in your office as thick as a dictionary. Besides, he did save her life, Charlie. Even you can't deny that. You know he didn't have to…"

"Alright, alright, Renee," Charlie sighed. "She can go out with the boy, but that doesn't mean I have to like it and it doesn't mean I have to treat this kid like the sun shines out of his ass. He's going to know he better treat my little girl with respect."

"Fine," Renee acquiesced, "but you do realize if you scare him off Bella will never forgive you." Charlie muttered something under his breath as he turned on the dishwasher, leaving Renee to creep toward the back of the house where she found Bella waiting on the stairs.

"So?" Bella asked worriedly.

"He'll be fine," Renee assured her daughter with a hug. "It's just hard for him to see you're almost an adult. I think the day a boy came around asking for you was the day he's feared most since you were born."

"I know," Bella sighed.

"Just be extra sweet on him this week," Renee instructed. "You are his only little girl."

"Thanks mom," Bella smiled. "For everything."

* * *

**End Note:**  
_Parents are an important contributing factor when it comes to bullying, according to the National Education Association. Children and teenagers who have parents that offer little emotional support, fail to monitor activities, or have no involvement in their child's lives are at a greater risk for becoming bullies. _

_Parents who are extremely permissive or excessively harsh with their discipline can also increase the risk their child will become a bully. Children's home discipline often establishes a pattern for how they interact at school. Studies found children who were disciplined with yelling or hitting was more likely to yell or hit other children when angry. Boys, especially, are more inclined to physically attack other students in anger if they witness their fathers do the same at home. _

_If a child sees a parent threatening, intimidating or bullying school administrators and personnel, it will teach the child to treat their classmates and schools. This study found, however, that parents who engage in bullying activity towards school personnel often engage in this type of activity toward their own children. _


	37. Chapter 37

**_Thanks to dowlingnana_**

* * *

_Youth is happy because it has the ability to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old - Franz Kafka, Austrian writer_

* * *

_Saturday, July 5, 2008_  
_5 p.m. – Swan Residence_

Edward Cullen had never been more nervous in his entire life than he was standing on the front porch of the Swan residence. His mother had wanted him to wear a button down and tie, but he had staunchly defended his decision to wear a decent t-shirt. They had compromised on slacks and his sneakers. His father had slipped him a fifty-dollar bill to cover the night's entertainment and then reminded him about the awkward "respect her boundaries" lecture before sending him on his way.

On his way over, Edward had stopped to pick up the bouquet of colorful Gerbera daisies he had ordered earlier in the week from the floral section of the grocery store. He had found out from Jasper who asked Alice what Bella's favorites were. Of course, the difficult part would be giving them to her before Chief Swan shot him dead on the porch and then made up some story about thinking he was an intruder. As he finally got up the courage to ring the doorbell, he couldn't help but wish Bella had a normal father who didn't own so many guns.

"Hello, Edward," Renee Swan smiled. Edward let out a sigh of relief that she was the one to answer the door. "Bella's still upstairs getting ready. Are those flowers for her?"

"Yes ma'am," Edward said.

"Well," Renee said taking them from him, "I will put these in some water and you can just go sit in the living room until she comes down."

Edward should have known it was just too easy. Displayed all over the living room were the many guns Charlie Swan used both professionally and when he was out hunting. He was currently shining up the butt of a rifle that was about the same height as Edward. For a moment, Edward thought it was a bit of an exercise in futility for Charlie to clean the guns when he would probably just have to clean them up again after using them on his daughter's date. There was only one vacant seat left in the entire living room and it was on the sofa next to the recliner where Charlie was sitting. Nervously, Edward waded his way through the different animal calls and shotguns before taking an awkward seat between Charlie Swan and one of Renee's decorative throw pillows for the couch.

"You ever shoot a Winchester, son?" Charlie asked out of nowhere.

"Uh… no… uh… my dad isn't exactly the outdoorsy type," Edward stammered.

"Damn fine gun," Charlie said. "This here's my .300 Winchester: Great for moose hunting. When I get a good scope and silencer on this baby, those big bulls don't stand a chance. I've taken those suckers down at 500 feet without them even knowing I was around. Now, if you're looking for bear, that Browning bolt-action is your best shot. Sure, this one here would do well, but I think you take 'em down easier with the Browning. That's how we got the bear skin rug in the den."

"Fascinating," Edward said, resisting the urge to have a full-on panic attack.

"Well," Charlie said, closing up the barrel of the gun from where he had been cleaning it and laying it across his lap. "I suppose we better get down to business. Lay some ground rules. Now, I want Bella to have fun tonight, but I would prefer she not enjoy herself too much. I want her home by ten-thirty…"

"Pardon me, but Bella said she could stay out until eleven-thirty tonight," Edward said. He cringed a little under Charlie's glare. "I mean, I could have her home earlier, but I know she said…"

"Fine, eleven-thirty," Charlie grimaced. "Enjoy being young while you can, son. Once you get married you'll never win an argument ever again."

"Um… okay," Edward said nervously.

"Now, give me your phone," Charlie said. Wordlessly, Edward handed it over and Charlie Swan took an active interest in it, reading Edward's recent text messages before plugging his number in. "Your mother sure does send you on a lot of errands…" Charlie said, handing the phone back. "Now, if my number comes up, you better answer on the first ring, even if your hands have been cut off. You better let her order whatever she wants and if she wants that big bucket of popcorn at the movies, you better get it for her." Charlie reached for his wallet, but Edward stopped him.

"My dad gave me some money… and I have some saved up… you really don't have to…" Edward said. "I'd like… to pay for it myself if it's all the same." Charlie eyed the kid up and down and then relaxed.

"You're going to treat her well, have her back home safely, and if you don't, I will find you and I will kill you. Got it?" Charlie said.

"Yes sir," Edward gulped.

"Well, that sounds like her now," Charlie said, hearing some thumping on the second floor hallway. Bella came down the stairs in the nice top and skinny jeans Alice had picked out for her only to groan and glare at her father halfway down.

"The guns, Daddy? Seriously?" Bella groaned.

"It was time to clean them," Charlie shrugged.

"You cleaned those two weeks ago," Bella pointed out. "You said you wouldn't do this."

"No, your mother said she'd try to talk me out of it," Charlie snorted. "Alright, well the sooner you two get going the sooner you'll be back."

"Oh, Bella, Edward brought you some pretty flowers! Come look!" Renee called from the kitchen. Charlie rolled his eyes as a sheepish Edward followed a blushing Bella into the kitchen. She thanked him for the flowers and then before Renee could retrieve her camera to take pictures for Bella's baby book, Charlie shooed the two of them out of the house. He wasn't the only one who didn't want a picture of Bella's first date among all the memories of her as a baby and toddler.

"I am so sorry for my parents," Bella sighed once they had gotten into Edward's car. "They're…"

"Parents," Edward shrugged. "I'm just glad you didn't have to see mine." He turned on the radio, found a station they could both enjoy and then headed off toward the 101.

* * *

_11:15 p.m. – Olympic Highway/Highway 101 outside Beaver, WA_

Besides the fact that Edward was incredibly nervous about getting her home on time, Bella had to admit it had been a great evening. Edward had been extremely polite, opening all the doors for her and pulling out her chair at the restaurant. He was interested in everything she said when she talked and when Bella felt like she was doing too much talking, he had stepped in and led the conversation on his own. He had generously tipped the waiter and even though they had just eaten dessert, he didn't balk at her suggestion of sharing the big popcorn bucket. In fact, he seemed pretty happy when their hands met in the buttery bucket.

Edward was just glad the evening hadn't gotten awkward after the incident with her father. He still wasn't counting the evening a success until he woke up the next morning without being skinned alive by Charlie Swan. However, Bella seemed to be having a good time and there had been some hand holding in the movie theater parking lot, not to mention his own clever use of the patented yawn and stretch move when they sat next to each other while watching the movie. With her sitting so close, Edward could easily smell the scent of Bella's strawberries and cream shampoo, but he resisted the urge to just grab a fist full of her hair and sniff. That would have been extremely awkward, not to mention gotten him gutted alive by her dad.

"So…uh… did you have a good Fourth of July?" Edward asked, hoping to make some conversation as they headed back.

"Yeah. We went to the display downtown," Bella said. "You?"

"We went to the one in the bay in Port Angeles," Edward replied.

"Neat," Bella said.

"Yeah," Edward nodded. "Dad was glad not to work the hospital that night. He said this time and New Years are the worst times for burns. I think that's why they never let me have fireworks when I was little."

"I once set a picnic blanket on fire with a sparkler," Bella said. "I tripped over a rock and fell flat on my face… I wasn't allowed any after that."

"It's hard to believe the summer's almost halfway over," Edward said. "Usually, I look forward to going to school because I get bored over the summer but… I'm not so sure if I'm looking forward to this year…"

"Alice is convinced senior year is going to be the best for us," Bella shrugged. "I'm a little nervous about going back after… you know…"

"They're supposed to be having an open house before school starts to show everyone the renovations," Edward said. "I want to go for curiosities sake. Of course, I'm not sure how I'll react once I'm really in there. No matter how much they've changed it, I think it will still be hard to forget what happened there…"

"I know," Bella said. "I know I've told you before… but… thank you: For what you did that day."

"It was instinct," Edward said. "Besides, you never did anything to hurt Jimmy. And your dad wasn't trying to hurt him or his family. He was just doing his job. I think he wanted someone to blame for things that were out of his control, but he didn't realize they were out of everyone's control. Well, expect maybe his mom. But she was too scared to stand up to his dad. It's just not fair all around."

"I'm not having nightmares about it, anymore, which is good," Bella sighed. "Although, I think it's still hitting my dad very hard. The thing is, he would have saved that whole family if he could. He knows what it's like… Dad doesn't talk about it much… but my Grandpa Swan wasn't the nicest guy, apparently. He died when I was four and my parents never brought me around him much, but from what I understand he was pretty rough on my dad and Grandma Swan."

"What do you mean rough?" Edward asked.

"Well, my dad said he was just rough on her, but when Mom and I were going through some old photo albums, we found a picture of Grandma Swan at dad's twelfth birthday party and she had a black eye," Bella said. "Dad won't talk about it, but I know he was always very protective of Grandma. She died when I was twelve and he took it really hard."

"Well, yeah, it's his mom," Edward shrugged. "No guy wants to see someone mistreating their mom."

It was too soon when Edward's car came to a stop in front of the Swan house. Bella was glad Edward wasn't one of those guys who thought opening her car door or walking her to the front porch when he dropped her off was too "old-fashioned." She did catch him surreptitiously checking his watch and breathing out a sigh of relief to find it was only 11:28 p.m. as they came to stand in front of the Swan's front door. Edward had somehow slipped his hand into hers without her noticing and Bella blushed as she felt his fingers intertwine with her own.

"So, I had a great time," Bella smiled.

"Good," Edward said, attempting to make a joke. "Your dad said he'd butcher me in my sleep if you didn't." Bella rolled her eyes.

"Well, I really enjoyed myself," Bella said. "Thanks for tonight."

"I had fun, too," Edward grinned. "So… can I call you… sometime tomorrow afternoon, maybe?"

"I'd like that," Bella smiled. Edward decided to take a chance and leaned forward. His lips had barely brushed Bella's before the front porch light start going on and off like it were possessed. Edward jumped back very quickly.

"Ugh! Seriously Dad!" Bella groaned at the form of her father slinking away from the other side of the door.

"So, I'll talk to you tomorrow?" Edward said, one eye keeping track of her father through the front window.

"Sure," Bella said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Edward nodded. He waited until the door closed behind her to head back toward his car.

"Dad!" Bella grimaced, slamming the front door behind her. "What was that all about?"

"Hmm? What? Oh, I think the porch light has a short in it," Charlie muttered. "Have to get that fixed some time…"

"How was your night, sweetie?" Renee asked, looking up from her magazine.

"It was great. I'm a little tired, though," Bella said. "Tell you about it in the morning?"

"Okay, honey," Renee said, patting Bella's arm. Reluctantly, Bella bent over the back of the couch and gave her father a hug around his neck before bounding up the stairs to her bedroom. Renee smirked at her husband and flipped the page in her magazine.

"He's alright," Charlie admitted to his wife. "I'll promise I'll only bring out the deer rifle next time he comes over."

"Softie," Renee smirked.

* * *

_Sunday, July 6, 2008_  
_1 p.m. – Cullen Residence_

"So, how was it?" Emmett asked.

Ever since Carlisle Cullen had splurged and brought a brand new flat screen for the family's game room the week before, Edward's friends had been coming over to his place to play video games. Emmett had salivated over the graphics and features of the new TV with Carlisle for a few days, but it was Jasper who always brought over the best games for the big screen. Since his dad was due home at the end of August, Jasper was in a pretty good mood and even let Edward win a few rounds of _Halo_ before handing his controller over to Emmett.

"It was good," Edward said. "We had fun."

"That's all you're going to tell us?" Jasper snorted.

"What? I'm not going to go full-on Danny Zuko and sing it to you," Edward snorted.

"Hey, _Grease_ is a classic movie and John Travolta is a talented man," Emmett said. "I will have none of that under this roof."

"This is my dad's roof," Edward reminded him.

"And I'm sure a suave man like Dr. Cullen would agree with me," Emmett snorted.

"Look, we went out to eat and then to a movie," Edward said. "I'm calling her later this afternoon. Maybe we'll set something else up."

"You aren't going to give us any juicy deets?" Emmett groaned.

"Like what?" Edward sighed.

"I don't know… how many guns did Chief Swan pull on you?" Jasper asked.

"It was conveniently gun cleaning night at the Swan house," Edward groaned. "He showed me the particulars of his moose and bear hunting guns."

"Nice," Emmett laughed.

"And then at the end… he was watching us on the porch and started making the porch light flicker on and off… Bella was pretty much mortified," Edward sighed.

"She was mad at him, not you," Jasper reasoned. "I'm sure you'll get on with Chief Swan well enough after a little while. Alice's Pops likes me a lot now. He likes having someone on his side during arguments. Besides, it was Bella's first date, right? The guy's been planning how to harass her first date for seventeen years. You have to let him have a little fun."

"How bad was Rose's dad?" Edward asked Emmett.

"Not really bad," Emmett shrugged. "But then again… the only person he has to compare me with is Royce, and let's be honest; Royce didn't leave the best impression on that family. It was a major shock to her parents that I actually came up to the porch and rang the doorbell rather than honking twice from the driveway and expecting Rose to appear."

"Damn," Jasper shook his head. "What did she ever see in that guy?"

"What did any girl ever see in that guy?" Edward asked.

"Blinded by the blonde hair, sparkling teeth and football jersey," Emmett shrugged. "It happens."

"You'd think his over-all air of douchebaggery would have negated all of that," Jasper shrugged.

"You know, the three of us should double date," Emmett said.

"Wait? What?" Edward grimaced.

"You guys are cool and all, but not exactly my type," Jasper said.

"No, I mean us and our girls we could go out all together," Emmett said. "It would be cool. We could go to the bowling alley Rose and I went to. It'd be cool."

"I can ask Bella," Edward shrugged.

"Alice is probably planning the same thing right now, so you should work out the details with her, Em," Jasper laughed.

"Cool man," Emmett grinned. "I hope they have the glow in the dark bowling shoes again!"

* * *

_2:30 p.m. – Brandon Residence_

"So, how was it?" Alice asked as Rose leaned over to paint her toe nails.

"Ugh, it would have been perfect if my dad hadn't been around," Bella groaned.

"What did the Chief do?" Rose asked.

"He brought out and showcased his entire gun collection to Edward," Bella sighed. "It's a miracle Edward didn't leave on the spot."

"Yeah," Alice nodded. "I've seen the gun collection. A lesser man would have crapped his pants."

"And then, when we came back," Bella sighed, "Edward was leaning in to kiss me goodnight and he just barely touched me before Charlie Swan starting flipping the porch light on and off so we'd know he was watching us from the other side of the window. I wouldn't be surprised to find out Dad put a tracking device on his car or in his phone!"

"It's a dad thing," Rose shrugged. "Look, Edward's a good guy and he's not going to give your dad any reason to flip out on him: Just let your dad get used to it. You're lucky, you know? Edward's a parents' dream. I had Royce and it was a wonder after going out with him that my dad didn't lock me in a tower somewhere. Royce was a real asshole. It shocked the hell out of my parents that Emmett brought me flowers on our first date because they had given up on the young men of our generation after getting to know Royce."

"I just wish Dad would go easier on him," Bella sighed. "I don't want him to scare Edward away."

"I don't think you have to worry about that," Alice smirked. "He's had a huge crush on you since freshman year. Maybe even before that. Besides, it's not like Charlie Swan could pick anyone out better for you than the perfect son of Dr. and Mrs. Cullen. Your dad's probably glad you didn't bring home some tattooed biker with a rap sheet. Now, that would have given the Chief a coronary."

"How did your dad react to Jasper?" Rose asked. "He's a nice guy but he's not exactly… straight from the Old Navy catalog, you know?"

"He was a little apprehensive at first," Alice shrugged. "Jasper did tone down the black and the nail polish the first time he came to pick me up, though. And now Dad just sees that he's a good person and doesn't really care how he looks."

"Enough about your dad, though," Rose said. "It was a good night?"

"Yeah," Bella blushed. "We had a lot of fun. Talked a lot. I really didn't want it to end."

"You're sure all you did was talk?" Alice teased. Bella blushed even deeper, causing Rose and Alice to laugh but they didn't press the issue.

"Well, I'm going to head home," Bella announced. "Edward's supposed to call me… maybe set something else up?"

"Good luck!" Rose and Alice called after Bella as she waved and saw herself out of the house.

"She is so far gone," Rose smirked to Alice once Bella had left.

"Totally," Alice grinned.

* * *

**End Note:**

_At least 1 in 11 teen's reports being a victim of physical dating abuse. Girls are more likely to experience dating violence. An estimated 1 in 5 female teens has been the victim of physical or sexual dating violence. However, both boys and girls can be victims of dating victims.1 in 4 teen girls reported this abuse happened on more than one occasion._

_A recent survey found 40 percent of high school girls (ages 14-17) reported knowing at least one person who had been physically hurt or hit by a boyfriend. Of these teens, only 3 percent said the incident of dating violence was reported to an authority figure. _

_The most common place for teen dating violence to occur is in the home of the victim or the home of the offender. Nearly 80 percent of girls who are abused by a partner continue to date the person after the abuse occurs. One-third of women between the ages of 15 and 19 who are murdered are killed by a boyfriend or husband._

_Less than 25 percent of teens ages 13 to 17 say they have discussed dating violence with their parents. _


	38. Chapter 38

**Thanks to dowlingnana**

* * *

_If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself. - Henry Ford, American automaker_

* * *

_Monday, August 25, 2008_  
_5 p.m. – Forks High School_

The week before school was set to return to session, students and parents and Forks High School were invited for the grand reopening of the school and to tour the new renovations of the main building as well as the memorial that had been erected for the students lost the previous April. Mrs. Estevez was at the very front of the school, doing the official ribbon cutting for the newspaper and then personally shaking hands and welcoming all of the parents and students as they ventured into the building. She smiled nicely and chatted with everyone before going in to the building herself to continue taking with the public. The new science and Spanish teachers who were replacing Dr. Banner and Mrs. Goff were also introduced to the crowd.

Emmett started out the evening catching up with Tyler and Eric, ventured over to chat with his football buddies and his coach and then ended up walking around with his parents. Rose stuck close to her mom and dad the entire time while Rose and Bella walked off on their own. Edward found himself leaning up against the brand new lockers with Jasper, talking about the changes to the building. It was definitely different than it had looked before, and not just because the blood stains had been cleaned up.

There was brand new tile and the walls had been repainted bright colors. New lockers had been brought in and reconfigured along with trophy cases and the vending machines. Dr. Banner's old classroom had been turned into an office for the new school resource officer the school board had been pressured to hire when they redid their fiscal year budget back in June. All of the other classrooms remained pretty much the same. A few of the rooms had been moved around. Some of the teachers had not felt comfortable in the main building anymore and Mrs. Estevez had rearranged some classrooms so everyone felt safe.

However, the best surprise was probably Mrs. Cope's office. She was up to driving on her own again finally and nearly burst out into tears when she saw the new desk they had bought to replace her old wobbly one. Special commendations she had received from the local fire and police departments for her bravery were hanging on the wall as was a picture of the previous senior class had taken at graduation, holding a banner thanking her. The front office seemed to be much more comforting with nice couches and a TV rather than the old, stiff chairs beforehand.

True to form, Charlie Swan found the resource officer and chatted with him just about the entire time. Bella wasn't sure if her father was making sure the guy knew who was the chief's daughter or if it was just part of her father's natural penchant to find the one person in the room who was law enforcement and hang out with them. Her mother was standing by her father's side, not too far from where Forks Highs new baseball coach was chatting with some parents. Phil Dwyer had apparently gotten an offer to be an assistant coach at UDub and had left over the summer to start work there.

"So, what do you think?" Alice asked Bella as they walked down the new hallway. It was hard for Bella to push the thoughts from her mind, but she still knew they weren't far from where Jasper had tried to take Jimmy down.

"It's nice… but I don't think it's going to help me forget," Bella sighed. "It's not exactly something you can put a bandage over and heal. There are a lot of tough memories here."

"I know," Alice agreed. "But it's a start."

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to use that stairwell again," Bella said. "They've repainted it and everything, but I'll almost know it was where… I'm just glad they didn't tell us exactly where he died on the second floor. I don't think I could ever go near there."

"Yeah," Alice said. She looked up to find Jasper had sidled up to her, slipping his hand into hers. Bella smiled, wondering if either of them realized where they were standing.

"Looks nice," Jasper said. "I think it needed something more inviting than that blah manila envelope colored paint and tile they always had here."

"I agree," Alice said. "Apparently, the last major interior remodel of this building was in the 1970s. I guess that's why it looked so putrid."

"It did have that whole just-threw-up-my-lunch color scheme to it," Bella laughed.

"Rocking the Spartan blue and gold," Emmett grinned, walking over toward them. "This tile is nice, too. What do you think it is? Marble?"

"I seriously doubt marble title was in the school system's budget," Edward snorted, shyly joining Bella's side in the same way Jasper had done to Alice. "But you'd have to ask my mom. She eats up all those interior design shows. She could probably tell you which exact color and brand of paint they used."

"The only thing that's missing is the big picture of my face in the front office," Emmett agreed. "You know, with the plaque underneath saying I'm the most awesome student who's ever attended this school."

"Your midterm English paper on the 'Complete Zombie Survival Guide' might dispute that," Mr. Masen said to Emmett as he passed by, causing the group to crack up.

"He said we could do the book report on any book we wanted," Emmett shrugged.

"Any of the books we had been assigned to read that semester," Rose corrected with a laugh as she came over. Emmett put his arm around her and then waved to Mr. and Mrs. Hale, who were walking over to meet some friends. "They've redone the library, too. It looks really nice. And I think they got more books because it seems like the shelves are fuller."

"Hopefully they've gotten an encyclopedia that was at least published in the past decade," Edward sighed.

"Books? Dude, no one uses books for research papers anymore," Emmett said. "We have the Internet!"

"I'm guessing the Internet was why your report on ancient Egypt had more to do with aliens than pharaohs?" Jasper guffawed.

"Aliens are everywhere. True story," Emmett said.

"How do you put up with him, huh?" Jasper asked Rose, who only laughed in response.

"I don't know if I'm ready to come back," Bella admitted. "Not just because of what happened but… I don't know… this summer seemed kind of short…"

"I know," Jasper agreed. "I think it'll be weird walking down these halls for a while."

"I'm sure we'll get used to it again," Edward said. "I mean, we only have a year left, right? We never have to come back here after graduation if we don't want to."

"It's just… it used to feel homey," Bella said. "I never would have thought you could be so afraid of a building."

"It'll be fine," Rose assured her. "We all have some new things to get used to… but we'll make it through. We've been through worse."

* * *

_9:30 p.m. – Swan Residence_

"I still don't know how comfortable I feel about sending her back there," Renee admitted.

"Hon, as a cop I can tell you a school is actually one of the safest places we can send her," Charlie said. "And as much as I hate to admit it, the worst has already happened. They're keeping a much tougher eye on things now. For the next few years, I'm sure every school in the county will be like a fortress."

"They could build castle walls and a moat around that school and I don't know if I would feel safe sending her there," Renee admitted. "I just… I'm afraid that every time I see her off for school in the morning from now on I'm going to wonder if it's the last time I'm going to see her alive. You know I wanted to keep her home for the rest of the year, but you said…"

"…it wouldn't do her any good," Charlie nodded. "I know it's tough, Renee. But she's got to go to school. And I'm sure she's going to get into some college somewhere, so this might be the last year we have her home. We need to enjoy it rather than focusing on all those what ifs, I guess. And I can promise you, that school is safer now than it ever has been. Bella will be fine. She has her friends, and I made sure she had an extra can of pepper spray for the truck to start the new school year."

"You know, usually you're the one who is terrified for her safety and I'm reassuring you," Renee smiled.

"Yeah, well I suppose I'm starting to get used to this idea of her being an adult what with that boy always calling over here and coming over to watch movies or take her out for pizza," Charlie grunted.

"You can't lie to me; you like Edward," Renee smirked. "Especially since he showed you that web site listing the best conditions and places for fishing and where the biggest fish have been caught recently. Not to mention, he always does the dishes if we have him over for dinner… which conveniently seems to always be the night you're supposed to do the dishes."

"He's alright," Charlie muttered. "But I still think we need to keep an eye on him. He's gotten a little out of control with his hands lately."

"Holding our daughter's hand in front of us is not 'out of control,'" Renee rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but if he's comfortable enough to do that in front of us, what does he feel comfortable with when we're not around?" Charlie snorted.

"And you wonder why Bella is always so nervous about bringing him around here," Renee shook her head.

* * *

_10:15 p.m. – Cullen Residence_

"I don't know… I mean, we did talk about home schooling him when he was younger," Esme said.

"Yes, because I'm sure Edward would appreciate us pulling him out of his senior year to home school him," Carlisle snorted. "I know what happened in the spring was rough, but I've honestly never seen Edward look forward to school starting more than he has this year. Think about it, Es. He has a ton of friends and a girlfriend this year. This will be his last year of being a teenager. He'll be setting up a dorm room this time next year, and I don't think all of his friends will be with him."

"The new building is nice and all… but for all the renovations, how can we guarantee he's safe?" Esme said.

"We've never been able to guarantee he's safe," Carlisle said. "We can't raise our son in a padded room. I'm not going to pay some bodyguard to follow him around either. I see this all the time in the emergency room you know? Kids hit by drunk drivers or who had heart conditions no one ever detected that just collapsed. We can't know what will happen to him, so I say we let him have fun and enjoy it."

"But what if…" Esme began.

"Esme," Carlisle interjected. "You know how anxious Edward used to get before school. This is the first year he was actually excited about going back-to-school shopping with you. He already has plans to hang out with his friends after the first day back. He's happy. Do you really want to take that from him?"

"No," Esme sighed, "but it's so hard not to want to wrap him in bubble wrap and never let him go."

"I know," Carlisle said. "Believe me, I know. Remember when he was learning to walk and he would fall over? You know I used to over-react for those little scrapes and boo boos."

"Especially since you're a medical professional who should know better," Esme teased.

"The point is, all those scrapes never stopped him from learning to walk," Carlisle said. "We can't hold him back, even if he gets hurt. We have to do what's best for him, even if it scares us."

"Letting him out of my sight has been enough to scare me recently," Esme admitted. "Sometimes, I can't help but think about that day… seeing him on the stretcher… in the ambulance and in a hospital bed… Keeping our family safe was one of the biggest reasons we decided to move to a small town rather than stay in a big city like Chicago."

"I really don't think Forks High is in much danger anymore," Carlisle shook his head. "Everyone is overly cautious and what happened with Jimmy Hunter… that was one in a million, Esme."

"I can't believe we were that unlucky," Esme snorted.

"We've all learned something valuable from this," Carlisle said. "I think it's hard, but we need to start focusing on what we have rather than what we lost that day. If we just keep wallowing in our misery we're going to miss out on that marvelous second chance we were all given. We should be happy we have a healthy, content son who doesn't get into much trouble, makes good grades, and is growing up to be the young man we hoped he would be."

"I suppose," Esme said. "And I guess he'd never forgive me for taking him out this year since he has homeroom and four classes with Bella."

"They have gotten awful close recently," Carlisle mused. "I'm just glad Charlie Swan hasn't shown up at our front door with a loaded rifle asking for Edward. Actually, I'm a bit surprised that didn't happen the first time he went over to take her out. Although, he did call me and ask some rather interesting questions about Edward… I think Charlie was ready to have an aneurysm over the fact his little girl had a date, even if it was with our Edward."

"Perhaps it's a good thing we had a boy," Esme laughed.

"Did you guys say something about me?" Edward asked sleepily, leaning into the doorway of the living room.

"We were just talking about the school year, son," Carlisle said.

"Yeah, I'm still getting my backpack ready for Monday," Edward confirmed.

"Don't stay up too late tonight," Esme cautioned him.

"I won't," Edward said. "Remember, Emmett's got a bunch of us canoeing on the river by his parents place tomorrow. I'm picking up Bella at like nine in the morning. Oh, and you guys know the Swans invited us over Monday for the…"

"Labor Day barbeque," Esme smirked. "Yes, honey. I'm making cheesecakes, remember?"

"Yeah," Edward nodded. "You are making a strawberry one, right?"

"Yes, Edward," Esme said.

"Because that's…" Edward began.

"Bella's favorite," both his parents finished for him. Edward tinged red.

"Yeah… so… I'm going to bed," he said. "Goodnight." As their son shuffled off to his room, Carlisle put his arm around his wife and smirked.

"I know you worry, but you have to admit we did raise a pretty good kid," Carlisle said to his wife.

"I'll give you that," Esme smiled.

* * *

**End Note:**

_According to _Psychology Today_, 81 percent of teen girls report having been sexually harassed at school while 40 percent say a rumor of a sexual nature was spread about them.__Three-fourths of high school students are exposed to or witness derogatory homophobic slurs on a regular basis. One-third of LGBT teens reports being threatened or injured just because of their sexual orientation. For every LBGT victim, four more students are harassed or bullied because peers believe they are "acting" gay._

_Many girls are a victim of "slut-bashing," a type of bullying characterized by insults aimed a girls either actual or perceived sexual behavior. Girls are shamed, degraded and dehumanized regardless if rumors are true. Studies conducted by the Pew Institute for Internet Research found girls are almost always the victims of slut-shaming and are usually the ones featured in "sexting" or sexual explicit images posted online or via cell phone. _

_Parents who are open with their children are the ones most likely to help their child overcome sexually-motivated bullying. Research found children who have open, frank discussions about sexuality with their parents feel more willing to come to them about sexual abuse or bullying than children who do not discuss sex or are not encouraged to discuss sex with their parents. Likewise, LGBT students and other students facing homophobic bullying were more likely to report the abuse and less likely to commit suicide if they had parental support._


	39. Chapter 39

**Thanks to dowlingnana**

* * *

_Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008_

_8:45 a.m. – Forks High School_

It was odd for many of the returning students to face the first day back at Forks High School. The freshman classes came in with the anxiety of being the tiny fish in the big pond, but, other than that were cheerful and excited to be starting their high school experience. The upperclassmen were more wary, still remembering the last time they had hear the morning bell ring and headed to their first classes of the day. As a result, many students were congregating in the parking lot or quad outside the building, waiting to go inside until the very last minute possible.

"It looks like it's going to rain," Emmett commented.

"I'm still not ready to go in yet," Rose informed him.

"Yeah, I mean, once we go in there we're stuck inside for the next seven hours," Jasper nodded.

"Besides, it's still kinda sunny," Bella said. "Might as well soak it up while we can."

"You're still peeling off sunburn from the two hours you were outside yesterday," Alice pointed out.

"Did your folks have any…?" Edward began.

"Leftover barbeque? There was some, but Dad took some in his lunch today, so I don't know how much will be left by the time school is over," Bella finished.

"I still can't believe he wouldn't part with his recipe," Edward grimaced.

"The Swan family barbecue sauce recipe is a special secret," Alice replied. "He hasn't even told Renee or Bella about it."

"Yeah, we've seen some of his ingredients, but he still doesn't like to make it with anyone around him," Bella nodded. "Kind of like Harry Clearwater and his fish fry."

"Damn. I would do horrendous things for that man if he made fish for me every day," Emmett agreed.

"Now I'm hungry," Jasper whined. "Peter doesn't have to go back for a few more days and he's been eating all of the good breakfast food. I had to have cereal this morning because he ate all the bacon last night."

"Who do you all have for homeroom?" Emmett asked.

"Bella and I have Mrs. Nelson," Edward said, obviously glad they had lucked out with the sweet-tempered English teacher.

"Me too," Alice grinned.

"I've got Mr. Clinton," Jasper sighed, not very fond of the math teacher who had made his freshman algebra class a living hell.

"Rose and I have auto shop," Emmett grinned.

"You got him to take auto shop?" Jasper asked.

"Yeah," Rose said. "He's gotta figure out how to fix a broken carburetor because I might not always be where his car breaks down."

"That's why my parents have AAA," Edward said.

"I'd rather do it myself," Rose shrugged.

"You headed to the hospital tonight?" Bella asked her.

"I changed my schedule around. I'm working Mondays, Wednesdays and Sunday nights now," Rose replied. The bell rang letting students know they needed to head toward their homerooms.

"Well, I suppose we kind of have to go in now," Edward sighed.

The group made their way into the building, waving and saying hello to Ms. Cope, who was in her office greeting new students and helping others sort out their schedules for the year. She was obviously loving being back in the building and had gotten several gifts from students as a thank you for making her 911 call and then pushing herself so she would be well enough to return to the job she loved. Emmett had even gotten an order of sunflowers delivered to her early that morning.

Mrs. Estevez was monitoring the main hallway, keeping a watch over her students as they walked to and from their lockers and homerooms. She had assigned the other vice-principals or teachers to monitor the second floor hallway of the main building as well as the hallways of the other buildings on the school grounds. The school resource officer was in his office, busily putting the final touches on a presentation he had been assigned to make on bullying. The freshman class would be meeting that afternoon while the sophomore, junior and senior classes would be meeting in the school auditorium on the following afternoons to hear the presentation. Mrs. Estevez had wanted to start out the school year letting students know what was expected with them and what new or revised policies had been added by the school board during a summer workshop a newly formed parents group had pressured them into.

It was interesting to note that Victoria's mother had not been the one pushing for the parent awareness group. In fact, it was Riley Biers mother who had taken up the cause in memory of her deceased son. In addition to addressing bullying problems within the school system and teaching parents how to deal with the issue, she was especially focused on issues of bullying gay students like her son. She had started her group in the Forks area after visiting a similar parents group in Port Angeles and seeing how many local parents had been willing to drive the two-hour round trip to discuss the issue.

Once the final bell rang and all the students were in the homeroom, Mrs. Estevez returned to her office to deliver the morning announcements. The morning hours passed without any real incidents. For someone on the outside, it would be a very typical first day of school with nothing amiss. Of course, many of the students still new the old wounds hadn't yet healed.

* * *

_12 p.m. – Forks High School Cafeteria_

"You know something weird?" Jasper asked Edward. The two of them had been the first to arrive to the cafeteria. Rose, Emmett and Alice were still going through the lunch line while Bella had not yet arrived with lunch box in tow. Tyler and Eric had gotten the second lunch period, but they were planning on talking to Edward about reinstituting the chess club during their upcoming physics class together.

"What?" Edward asked.

"I had seven people I have barely ever talked with say hello to me today," Jasper said.

"Really?" Edward said, surprised.

"Yeah: Two guys from the football team, one from the wrestling team, and then four from the student council," Jasper said. "It was kind of creepy, actually."

"That they were being nice to you?" Edward said.

"Well… in the past when… you know… Royce, Larry and they… when they were nice it meant they were planning something mean. But nothing has happened," Jasper said. "I haven't been shoved in any lockers or tripped in the hallway or give a swirly or anything…"

"Now that you mention it," Edward thought, "I should have someone attempt to pull my books out of my hands or push me down the stairs by now. I mean, I know it's only the first day of school but usually I only had to wait a few hours before those guys broke my glasses or something. It was like they needed to get out all the energy they hadn't been able to use to pester me during the summer."

"It's kind of weird not having a reason to look over my shoulder every five minutes," Jasper admitted.

"Do you think it's because Emmett's been hanging around us?" Edward asked curiously.

"I think it's because the instigators are gone now," Jasper said. "I mean, everyone else was kind of a bystander, you know? There's really… no one left to start shit. And with the way Mrs. Estevez is watching everyone like a hawk… I don't think anyone feels comfortable enough to act out."

"That's a good thing," Edward said. "I really don't want to spend my senior year enjoying the view from inside my locker."

"Hi," Bella smiled, sliding into the seat next to Edward and opening her lunch box to reveal a left over barbecue sandwich.

"Did you have to bring that to eat right in front of me?" Edward groaned.

"Hey, you could have taken some home with you yesterday if you'd wanted," Bella snorted.

"Someone was very smart deciding to have pizza day on the first day of school," Rose huffed, sitting her tray down across from Bella.

"Huge line," Alice agreed, sitting across from Jasper.

"Where's Emmett?" Bella asked.

"Still in line haggling for the lunch lady to give him an extra slice," Rose rolled her eyes. "Apparently, he isn't willing to accept her offer of letting him come through the line a second time and buy a second lunch. He wants to purchase two lunches on his first go."

"Has she seen Emmett?" Edward scoffed. "I'd be surprised that he only needed to consume two lunches to keep up his energy level."

"He has an entire box of beef jerky in his locker to tide him over until football practice," Rose admitted.

"I am victorious!" Emmett crowed, setting his heavily laden lunch tray on the table in front of him. He had three slices, two desserts, and a large heaping of side salad with dressing.

"What did you do?" Jasper asked curiously.

"The ladies washing the dishes said it would be easier to just let me have one tray and then charge me double," Emmett said. "Besides, I have irresistible charm."

"That plus he was holding up the lunch line," Rose snorted.

"So, is it just me or have you guys noticed people being nicer in the hallways?" Bella asked.

"Yeah, I got complimented on my skirt like six times today, and not by freshmen either. People in our grade," Alice shook her head. "People who…"

"…never talked to you before?" Jasper and Edward said together with a nod.

"Edward and I were talking about this before," Jasper said. "People have been nicer."

"Of course they have been," Rose shrugged. "No one wants to get shot in the face."

"And Mrs. Estevez pretty much let everyone at the open house know she doesn't care who your parents are she'll expel you," Emmett nodded. "Not to mention Doug and his bunch haven't really been up to bugging anyone since they got kicked off the team and then had their asses handed to them by those guys in La Push. Seriously, Bells, ask your friend Jake what kind of secret recipe they're feeding those guys down there. It's like they have some ancient secret for building bulk."

"I wouldn't put it past those guys to start something and ruin our afternoon," Rose shrugged. "But then again, I can see them being so afraid of the repercussions they wait until after school as well."

"Maybe it's not that people are afraid," Bella suggested. "Maybe people just saw that things around here needed to change and so they're all making an effort."

"I think it's because everyone who used to start stuff is gone," Jasper said. "Not to mention all of the seniors graduated."

"Whatever it is, I hope it keeps up," Alice said. "I have a lot more new clothes I bought for this year, and I really think there is potential for high fashion here in Forks."

"We are talking about Forks, Washington, right?" Rose said: "Where the main clothing stores are Wal-Mart and Newton's?"

"Hey, we have the internet!" Alice said. "Maybe we could even start a fashion club."

"Like on 'Daria'?" Edward grimaced.

"No, not like that one," Alice rolled her eyes. "Gosh, Bella you are letting your grumpiness rub off on him."

"I am not grumpy," Bella grumped.

"Well, then are you Sleepy, Dopey or Doc?" Emmett asked. "I can't remember the names of the other ones."

Alice and Emmett got into an in-depth discussion of Disney characters, leading Jasper and Rose to exchange eye rolls. Bella just about zoned out due to their conversation, lost in the jabbering noise of all of the talking and conversation taking place in the cafeteria, when she felt Edward's leg nudge her under the table. When she looked over at him, he wasn't looking back but was instead biting into his ham sandwich with a smug smile on his face.

"You know," Bella whispered to him, "I may not have been able to get you a spare barbecue sandwich, but I did pack some of those brownies my mother made."

"Seriously?" Edward said swallowing the big gulp of sandwich he had just taken.

"Yeah," Bella said, sliding over a zip-top bag with an extra brownie she had procured. "It was the least I could do after your mother made me my own personal strawberry cheesecake…"

"Yeah… she…uh…heard you liked them," Edward nodded.

"Well, tell her I said thanks," Bella smiled.

"Sure," Edward said. "So… do you think your dad will flip if I come over after group this afternoon? Dad's got a late shift at the hospital and Mom's having the ladies in that book club she joined over… and I really don't want to be around while they sip wine and cackle about whatever romance novel they're reading."

"Dad won't be home until about six," Bella shrugged. "I'm sure he'll be fine as long as you don't mention book club to my mom. The last thing we need is my mom getting soused and revealing personal secrets about her and my dad. She has a hard enough time keeping that stuff under wraps sober sometimes."

"Deal," Edward grinned.

* * *

**End Note:**  
_Some preventative measures schools have taken include staff training, frequent assemblies and discussions of bullying, creating and enforcing anti-bullying rules, engaging parents and students in the process, assessing what are the predominant bullying problems, and creating a more accepting and tolerant school environment._

_One policy many schools have found successful is having teachers monitor "hot spots" in the school, or spots where bullying activity is likely to occur such as around bathrooms, playgrounds, certain hallways, cafeterias, and any other area where students may feel they are "out of sight" of authority figures. _

_Teachers aren't the only ones who need to be involved. Stop recommends training everyone from secretaries to librarians to cafeteria workers and bus drivers on how to deal with bullying incidents. If students receive a consistent message from all these authority figures that bullying will not be tolerated they are less likely to engage in bullying activities. _

_Adults often set the tone for students. Messages reach kids best when they come from many different adults who talk about and show respect and inclusion. Authority figures should strive to be role models themselves. Additionally, affirming good behavior four to five times more than you criticize can help with students. Teachers are recommended to give negative feedback on a one-on-one basis rather than publicly reprimanding students and exposing them to ridicule. Praise, however, doesn't have to be kept close to the vest. Developing trust with students also makes them more likely to confide in school authorities if they are a victim or witness to bullying._


	40. Chapter 40

**Hard to believe this is wrapping up. Only three more to go. A big thanks to dowlingnana!**

* * *

_Tuesday, September 2, 2008_  
_3 p.m. – Forks Community Center_

"So, I think it would be best if we discussed how everyone felt about returning to school today," Tia said as they all gathered around.

"I can go first," Dean volunteered. "It was a lot different than I thought it was going to be. I kind of expected everyone to be really depressed and stuff, but it wasn't like that. I think it was good to start fresh back at the school this year this way, you know? It's a new school year so it's like we all get to start over and start fresh. And I think a lot of people made more of an effort to just be nice to each other."

"I think so, too," Ben agreed. "A lot of people would stop and say hi in the halls or hold doors open for one another and stuff like that. I think we've learned to respect each other a little bit more in the past few months."

"It was a little scary at first," Angela admitted. "I didn't really know what to expect. But it was really just like your normal first day of school. I still don't really go a day without thinking about what happened, but I'm not thinking about it so much anymore. I thought going back to school might bring up some of those old wounds, but it didn't for me."

"I was more worried about Jess than myself," Whitney admitted. "I mean, this was her first time in the Special Ed classroom and a lot of people from school didn't realize what had happened to her. I was afraid that she was going to be made fun of or stared at and stuff. But the Special Ed teachers were really nice. They even let me each lunch in the room with her. And she's getting on really well with her new classmates. Honestly, I think she likes them better than some of her friends from before… I think… I think I've grown up a lot in the past few months. I think we all have, but I really feel more mature now, not just because of taking care of Jess but because of everything. I'm trying to see the good in people, too. It's not always easy, but it makes life a lot more tolerable."

"I like the new renovations," Alice piped up. "I know why they had to do them, but honestly it was time Forks High got a makeover long before what happened in April. There's still spots in the hallways that I don't like going around. I don't think I'll ever be able to use those bathrooms by the front office just because I know what happened there… but it's not as scary as I thought it would be. I've kind of been reminding myself that it's just a building, you know? I'm glad they've rearranged the vending machines and stuff, too. It makes it a little harder for me to really think about exactly… exactly where certain things happened." Jasper slipped his hand into hers as she spoke and if Tia noticed, she didn't say anything. Alice smiled at Jasper who gave her a comforting squeeze.

"I'm just glad we can get back to normal," Emmett admitted. "Being back at school… it's like things are finally getting back to where they should be. I know it'll never be back normal the way it was. You know, like you said Tia, we have to find a new normal. And I think I'm pretty close to that new normal at least. It's getting better, and I'm really hoping that everyone will feel the same way soon."

"I'm glad to see our teachers taking a more active role in social interactions between students," Rose said. "You know, actually monitoring the hallways and keeping an eye out for potential problems."

"You don't think your teachers did this before?" Tia asked curiously.

"I don't know if they didn't do it before, per se," Rose shrugged. "But I think under Principal Greene there was sort of a different climate. Even if teachers did witness something and try to stop or report it, I doubt he would have taken it seriously or backed the teacher up with punishment. I guess the fact that he wasn't in their corner or that he didn't follow through probably made some of them give up since they figured they would get nowhere anyway. But Mrs. Estevez has different expectations and she's made them fairly clear. I think our teachers are feeling more confident about coming to her with problems between students or alerting her to potential issues. And I really do appreciate that. I think it's good that they are all making a conscious effort to work together for us."

"I think that's really important, too," Edward agreed: "To have teachers noticing. But I also think we as students have to play a bigger part. I mean, teachers can't be everywhere. There is a ratio of like… what… twenty-seven students to every one faculty member at the school? They can't always be watching all of us, so we need to do what we talked about in here and stand up for others or report what we see rather than assuming someone else will take care of it."

"Have you seen that happening in school already?" Tia asked.

"Honestly? I haven't really seen any incidents of bullying so far," Edward shrugged. "I mean, it's only been one day, but back when Royce, Larry and Mike were around… I didn't have to wait but fifteen minutes on the first day of school before someone was saying something to me or pushing me around. This year started off a lot different. Like Ben said, a lot of people are making more of an effort to be nice and respectful to each other. I just hope this isn't something that only lasts for the first few weeks of school only for people to fall back into their old ways. I can see that happening too easily."

"And that is why we have been talking about everything we've focused on in the past few months," Tia nodded. "It is important if you see others start to slip back into their old habits to remind them about why respecting each other is important and how our actions can impact others."

"It's still a little hard to be in the back of the main hallway for me," Bella admitted. "I can't go up that staircase. I can't look at it when I walk by. I just… it's too much. I know they've renovated it and tried to do what they could to make it unrecognizable, but I'll always know what happened there. Maybe one day I will be able to walk by it and not really think about it, but for now I'm not really ready to confront it or expose myself to it. Maybe in time… but right now… I mean, I just stopped having nightmares about it over the summer. I really don't want to bring that old wound back up. And I'm glad I don't have any classes on the second floor of the main building this year. I don't think I could handle that."

"We all have to face these things at our own pace," Tia agreed.

"I do kind of feel dumb about it. I mean, it's just a building, right?" Bella sighed.

"It's a building where you witnessed something horrific," Tia said. "It is expected for you to have issues with it. Besides, it isn't just a building. It's a school. Some buildings are more than just brick and mortar. For all of you, this building is sort of a symbol of what happened that day and what you went through. It used to be symbolic of a place where you felt safe… or in some cases felt bullied… but now it has a different meaning and context for you all. It is alright to feel differently about it, but you shouldn't allow your fear to overtake your life in a way that makes it hard or impossible for you to move on with your life. In this case, that means going to class, socializing with your classmates and graduating."

"I know," Bella sighed. "And I really am hoping there is a time when I can forget about all of this. Or at least remember it without feeling as much pain as I do now."

"Well, Jasper, we've heard from everyone but you," Tia prodded.

"Yeah," he said quietly, glad his hand was still in Alice's.

"So, how was the first day back for you?" Tia asked. Jasper sighed, wanting to avoid the question.

"Honestly? I thought it was going to be easier than it was," Jasper said. "I just wanted to go in there with the attitude that it was just a building and try and not think about what happened but… I mean, I can't forget any of that. I don't want to forget any of that. It's as much a part of me now as anything that's ever happened to be at school. I still have a hard time walking into that building knowing people died there… that someone I considered my best friend died there… that I could have died there. It's hard to not close my eyes and relive the entire thing in that hallway… I mean, you can redo the tiles and paint over the walls, but that doesn't erase what happened."

"I don't think they're trying to erase what happened," Alice shook her head.

"I know, but changing it around isn't exactly enough to cover it up for me," Jasper shrugged. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to approach the school the same way again. I know we talk about evolving and adapting into our 'new normal' but I don't know how that is going to fit in or if it will fit in to a 'normal' for me. You can't really forget the worst day of your life. And it's hard. Hard to see people trying to be normal there when we all know what happened. I understand it wasn't cost-effective or whatever to tear the whole building down, but I don't know… maybe I'd feel better if they'd taken the school down and moved it somewhere else. I know that because I feel that way doesn't mean it's a viable option but… I guess I still have a lot of things to work out."

"That's perfectly fine," Tia assured him. "Not everyone is going to recover at the same rate, and you have a lot of things to deal with. The goal is to make progress. It may continue to be hard for you, but this isn't something you can back down from. If you don't face your fears, you'll never overcome them. You'll never be able to move on, to be productive."

"I still worry… what people might think about me," Jasper said. "I know that it shouldn't matter what people think or say or do, but it worries me that people might think I was in on it or judge me guilty by association. I don't agree with what Jimmy did. I wish he had chosen a better way to handle everything. I know he was ill, and I know he made bad choices… but I never thought his bad choices would impact me… would impact all of us so much. And I know it's irrational or whatever but I still feel guilty that I couldn't have done something to stop this."

"You tried," Alice reminded him.

"I guess I'll always wonder 'what if,'" Jasper said. "I know I shouldn't focus on all those 'what ifs' but it's still hard not to think about them. And being back in school just amplifies it all. It just brings it all back. Parts of today felt more like I was taking a step backward than taking a step forward."

"You can't be afraid to ask for help, Jasper, or to talk to someone about how you're feeling," Tia advised him. "Bottling it all up won't help anyone and you least of all. Sharing what you've said now here is a good way to analyze what you're feeling and help you get to a point where you can go on with your life."

"It does feel better when I talk about it," Jasper admitted. "But I still worry that people won't understand or won't want to understand. That no one will listen. I mean, I've gotten so used to no one listening to my problems that it's kind of hard to accept that things have changed, that there are people willing to hear me out."

"It's not uncommon for people to feel like they should stop trying when they feel they aren't being heard," Tia said. "But that shouldn't stop you."

"I know," Jasper sighed.

"Man, we know you had nothing to do with this. If anything, what happened stung you worst of all," Emmett said. "And I hate that you still feel guilty about all of this. And if anyone thinks otherwise, we can set them straight. People say stuff just to stir shit up."

"Unfortunately, we do live in a small town where starting rumors seem to be the main form of entertainment," Rose agreed. "But caving into what people might or might not think of you is exactly what we're trying to avoid, right? I think the best you can do is to go on with things and live your life to its full extent. We've only got nine months until we can blow this Popsicle stand, anyway. Might as well enjoy them."

"There are some people who are going to have bad attitudes and be crude or mean no matter what," Edward agreed. "If we let our lives revolve around them we're missing out on the majority of people who are actually decent. I guess that's kind of what Jimmy was trying to do in a warped way… only leave the decent people behind."

"I don't think he even understood what he was doing," Jasper said. "I don't know if he saw himself as a hero or a villain at the end. I just know he handled things wrong and a lot of people are paying the consequences as a result."

"I have to say, all of you have made amazing progress in the past five months," Tia said. "You've all grown significantly and it's been wonderful to see you all becoming more open with your peers and really connecting with people from different backgrounds or with different interests than your own. I know you all will never recover one hundred percent from what happened, but you are all making great strides in moving forward and using this tragedy to make something positive for yourselves. We are all going to have tough times in our lives, some more than others, but as long as you can learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others, I'm confident all of you will be alright."

With the session drawing to a close, the group began packing up their bags and heading out of the community center. Edward and Bella quietly walked out together so they could sneak off to her house without alerting their friends to their plans. Emmett had football practice starting in a few minutes and was heading back to the school building with Dean. Rose hung back to chat a little bit with Whitney in the halls as the two of them had gotten close over their mutual caretaking: Rose for Ms. Cope and Whitney for Jessica. When she saw Jasper wasn't coming out immediately, Alice hung back to wait for Jasper to head out as well. She understood this session in particular had been hard for him and though he put on a brave face, she knew he was still deeply hurting about losing Jimmy.

"Tia… I just wanted to say thanks," Jasper said to her. "I know you don't have to sit around here twice a week listening to us whine…"

"It's not something I mind," Tia smiled.

"I guess we all just need someone to vent to," Jasper said; "Anyway, sorry if I've been difficult or anything."

"You have a lot on your plate. It's understandable," Tia said. "You just can't let guilt or any kinds of stuff swallow you up whole. You owe it to yourself. You deserve better."

"Thanks," Jasper nodded. He swung his messenger bag over his shoulder and then headed out of the room. He seemed slightly surprised to find Alice there waiting for him, but quickly slipped his hand into hers with a grin. "Hey."

"You okay?" Alice asked, concerned.

"I don't know if I would say where I'm at is 'okay' right now," Jasper admitted. "But I'm getting there."

"Good," Alice smiled.

* * *

**End Note:**  
_Because they are heavily influenced by peer groups, teens are more likely to tell a friend about experiencing depression or suicidal thoughts than they are to confide in a parent or other adult. Psychologists say warning signs may be as simple as a friend not wanting to engage in activities they used to love, doing alcohol or drugs, starting to hang out with a "bad crowd," skipping class or after school activities, saying negative things about themselves or talking about suicide._

_If a friend seems depressed or suicidal, teens are encouraged to get the friend to talk about the situation and allow them to vent, encourage them to seek help or confide in an adult, be extra supportive of the person, and speak up if they feel the friend is at high risk for suicide. These risky behaviors including frequent talking or joking about suicide, giving away possessions, and saying goodbye. Despite feelings to the contrary, telling an adult about suicidal behavior is not a "betrayal of trust," even if someone has promised not to tell anyone. _

_Most states have suicide hotlines in addition to the national suicide hotline. Many hospitals, treatment centers and other facilities also have similar crisis hotlines for people who just need someone to talk. Giving a friend this number may help as they may feel more comfortable turning to an anonymous person than venting their frustrations to people who know them._


	41. Chapter 41

**Thanks to dowlingnana!**

* * *

"_The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world." – Marianne Williamson, American author and lecturer_

* * *

_Saturday, October 18, 2008_  
_8:30 a.m. – Whitlock Residence_

Up until he woke up that morning, Jasper wasn't entirely sure if he was going to make it out to the cemetery that day. He had debated back and forth all week whether or not he would go, if it was the right thing to do for his own recovery or if it was the right thing to do by his friend. There were plenty of good reasons for him not to go, but when he woke up to his alarm that morning, he knew he couldn't stay home.

The night before, Jasper had a dream that was so real he thought he was awake. He normally didn't believe in weird dreams or people being able to see into the future or things like that. Alice was obsessed with horoscopes, ghosts and all sorts of freaky paranormal phenomena Jasper was certain could be explained by good, old-fashioned science. However, he let her have her quirks since he certainly knew he had plenty of his own. If he had told Alice about his dream, he could imagine she would come up with all sorts of interpretations as to what was running through his subconscious.

The day took on a familiar tone. It was the summer before Jasper's junior year and Jimmy's senior year. They had taken the BB gun Jasper had gotten for his thirteenth birthday into the woods for a little target practice and to smoke a little grass Jimmy had scored from a friend of his dad's. It was a rare sunny day in Forks. Jimmy had been going out with Vicky for a while and had recently confided in Jasper the two had gone all the way. Jasper was a little reverent of his older friend, amazed that Jimmy had gotten a girl when he himself still turned bright red if Alice Brandon so much as walked past him in the school hallway.

Jimmy was all excited about his impending senior year that day. He had Vicky by his side and announced to Jasper in his smirky haze that he wasn't going to be taking shit from Larry, Royce, Mike or any of them this year. He was determined this was going to be the best year ever and then he was going to get the hell out of Forks. However, rather than laughing and joking alongside his friend about how great the year was going to be like Jasper had done in reality, he was overcome with a sense of panic. He felt like he couldn't breathe, like he was trying to claw his way out of something.

Then, without any warning the figures of Larry, Vicky and Royce seemed to appear out of the mist floating through the woods, smirks on their face. These weren't how Jasper had known them in life but rather how they had looked after the massacre. Jasper turned to warn Jimmy that their bullies had been resurrected like zombies and was after them in the woods but he found Jimmy standing up with a gun in his hand, wearing the exact same clothes he had the day of the massacre. Jasper tried to yell at Jimmy, to stop him from what he knew he was going to do, but no words would leave his mouth. His screams were silent and all he could hear were the gunshot blasts. He felt helpless looking as the bodies piled up on the forest floor and then looked to Jimmy. However, his friend wasn't there. In his own hands, Jasper found the gun. He felt a panic come over his body and the forest floor start to spin.

When he woke up, he found himself in the hospital like he had the day of the massacre. He looked over toward the hospital bed next to him, expecting to see Emmett guffawing to reruns of "I Love Lucy" on their shared television. However, instead of finding Emmett as his hospital roommate, Jasper was shocked to find Jimmy lounging in the bed instead. While Jasper himself was in a hospital gown and hooked up to an IV, Jimmy was dressed just like he had been that day, not hooked up to anything. It looked as though he had just decided to crash on the bed, waiting for Jasper to wake up.  
"Bout time you woke up," Jimmy smirked. Jasper was at a loss as to what to say. "Well, don't look so damn surprised to see me."

"What are you doing here?" Jasper asked, finally finding his voice.

"The better question would be what are you still doing here?" Jimmy scoffed.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Jasper asked.

"You can't keep moping around for me anymore," Jimmy shrugged.

"I'm not moping," Jasper snorted.

"What I did was a waste," Jimmy said. "You know that more than anyone. I should have let you knock some sense into me."

"You're such a stubborn ass you wouldn't have listened," Jasper said.

"Maybe," Jimmy laughed. "But you've still got your chance. And you need to take it, you know? For both of us."

"You know this is kind of fucked up for you," Jasper said: "Coming to me in a dream, lecturing me about how to live my life."

"Whatever," Jimmy smirked. "You give that hottie Alice a kiss for me, you hear?"

In a cold sweat, Jasper woke up in his bed.

* * *

_10 a.m. - Forks Memorial Cemetery_

It was after that Jasper awoke and determined he was going to the cemetery that day. He was still nervous about it, and his dad offered to drive him to the cemetery over breakfast. Jasper accepted the offer, partially because he didn't trust himself to make it all the way out there and partially because he was trying to spend as much time with his dad as he could since he had returned from his deployment in mid-September. Major Whitlock was supposed to have returned the last week of August, but an important mission delayed his return by a few weeks.

He didn't really have anything to bring with him to the cemetery, but he figured just being there would have been enough. He stared out the passenger window of his father's car the entire ride there, trying to think about nothing. It was a silent ride; save for the country station his dad had playing on the radio. Jasper was a little nervous when the pulled in the parking lot of the cemetery since there were other cars there. He knew the good people of Forks still weren't exactly keen on who was buried over the ridge in the cemetery. However, he was surprised to find he recognized several of the cars. Waiting at the cemetery gate, he spied a group of his friends.

"Hey," Alice smiled as Jasper joined them. She was carrying a wreath with flowers on it. Jasper gave her a kiss, not caring if his dad or other friends saw.

"We thought you might need a little back up today," Emmett said.

"Thanks, guys," Jasper said, genuinely touched.

"It's nothing," Edward said. Bella nodded and slipped her hand into his.

"It's good to see you kids," Major Whitlock smiled at them.

"Well, should we head on in?" Rose asked.

When they finally reached the gravesite, Jasper was a little surprised to see Mrs. Hunter had sent over some arrangements for the family that decorated the graves. They were a little wilted, indicating they hadn't been replaced recently, but Jasper was glad to know someone was at least caring for the site regularly. He also sort of felt guilty that this was the first time had he been out to see Jimmy since the funeral. He didn't think it made him a bad friend exactly, but it had been hard to go back out there. The tombstones had been replaced since they were vandalized and thankfully everyone else had left the plot alone as well.

"He would have been nineteen today," Jasper said to no one in particular. "You know, when he turned eighteen he came over to my house that morning with a dirty magazine he'd bought at the gas station just to show he could. It was just for a laugh… that was back when he laughed a lot. Vicky broke up with him a few weeks later."

Jasper closed his eyes, thinking back to the year before. He had hopped into the car with Jimmy that morning and they had gone to school together. Jimmy had made out with Vicky a little bit in the parking lot, which kind of grossed Jasper out. However, the two of them had hung out during lunch and after school had gone to the diner together for burgers and milkshakes. Jimmy was going out to the movies with Vicky that evening, but on Saturday he came over to play video games with Jasper and Jimmy had received a birthday cake made for him especially by Mary Whitlock as a surprise. Over all, it had been a fun weekend. It was a good memory, one of the ones Jasper knew he had to hold on to.

While he was lost in his reverie, Jasper found Bella and Alice had arranged the new wreath they had bought while Rose was picking out the dried pieces of the arrangement Mrs. Hunter had sent. Jasper knowing his friends was there to support him, but he was glad for Jimmy's sake that someone had come to visit the family's plot. He knew the Hunters probably wouldn't get many visitors and in a few years, no one would probably even remember who they were. In a way, it wasn't exactly a bad thing Jasper thought.

"Do you want us to give you a moment?" Alice asked Jasper. He looked out at all his friends and nodded slightly.

"Yeah…" Jasper said. "I think I might need a second or two." Alice took his hand and squeezed it, giving him a gentle smile as the rest of their friends headed toward the front gate of the cemetery. Jimmy had told him he needed a girl like Vicky once, but Jasper had to admit he thought a girl like Alice was much better.  
"I know this is kind of a shitty way to spend your birthday," Jasper said. "I mean, not compared to last year. We had a lot of fun that day, right?" He looked around and sighed, knowing he was all alone in that part of the cemetery. "You know I'm still pretty pissed at you, right? I mean, it's hard not to be mad about what you did. I've stopped trying to figure out what you thought you were going to accomplish or what I could have done to stop it. I realize now that I couldn't have helped you unless you really wanted to be helped. And that's what I guess I'm still mad about; that you cared so little about yourself that you didn't want help. It's hard to think about all of the stuff you could have done… the things we could have done together… You may have thought you were doing all of us a favor… but you weren't. You weren't doing anyone a favor, yourself least of all. I just wish people could have seen you the way I did: That you could have let them in."

Jasper took a step back and sighed. He ran his fingers through his hair and kicked a rock that was sitting there arbitrarily on the ground. He glanced at the other three graves before him. It still hurt to know that Jimmy's mother and sister were gone, both lying on either side of him in the family plot. He tried not to think too much about his father's grave. Jimmy had once joked that he couldn't wait for the old man to die so he could piss on his grave. Jasper chuckled to himself and then turned back to his friend's tombstone.

"To tell the truth, I can't focus on how I could have fixed you because I have to focus on fixing me," Jasper said. "We made a lot of promises to each other when you were alive, you know? We promised each other we'd have each other's backs no matter what. You promised me that if things got too rough with your dad or if things got to be too much at home you'd tell me. I guess you forget that, but I never did. Anyway, I'm going to make you a promise, okay? I promise you that I'm going to live for the both of us, that I'm going to do the best I can to live my life to the fullest. It's the least I can do for the both of us."

Jasper stepped back and sighed. He didn't know what he was expecting. Nothing really profound happened. He smiled to himself, said goodbye and then decided to head out to the front of the cemetery where he knew everyone else was waiting for him. He found them chatting with his Dad, Rose and Emmett holding hands and Bella and Alice teasing each other about something. Maybe his friendship with Jimmy was over now, but he had to admit he now had something better for himself. He was spied by Emmett who acknowledged him with a wave and a loud shout. Heading back to the group, Jasper felt his father clap him on the back and Alice slip her hand into his.

"You okay?" Alice asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Jasper nodded.

"I'm proud of you," Randy Whitlock informed his son.

"Thanks," Jasper said.

"So, you guys wanna go get a pizza or something?" Emmett asked. "I only had two pop tarts for breakfast this morning, and I'm starving already."

"Sure," Jasper nodded.

"You wanna come Major?" Emmett asked him

"Nah," he laughed. "The 'honey do' list my wife has for me has been piling up over the past months. Afghanistan sometimes seems like a vacation compared to mowing the lawn and fixing the fence. You kids have fun."

"Who wants shotgun?" Emmett asked Jasper.

"I think I'll go with Alice."

"Then Rose gets to sit up front," Emmett said. "No offense Edward or Bella, but you guys have crap taste in music."

"I'm sorry if I don't appreciate the subtle artistry of Chamillionaire," Edward snorted.

"If I ride up front we aren't listening to that crap either," Rose pointed out.

"Jeez, you guys are picky," Emmett snorted before heading toward his car.

"I'll tell your mom you went out when I get back," Randall Whitlock informed his son. "You have fun with your friends. You've deserved it."

"Thanks, dad," Jasper nodded before his father headed back.

"You ready?" Alice asked him with a smile.

"Yeah," Jasper grinned, giving her a slight peck. "Thanks for being here today."

"Any time you need it," Alice assured him.

"That goes both ways," Jasper informed her.

"Come on," Alice smiled. "You deserve to have some fun today."

"I plan to," Jasper smiled.

* * *

**End Note**:

_Approximately one out of every four people knows someone who has committed suicide, whether through family or friendship networks. On average, a suicide occurs every 17 minutes. An elderly person dies by suicide every one hour and 37 minutes while a young person between the age of 15 and 24 dies by suicide every two hours and 12 minutes._

_Fire arms are the most frequent choice of death by those who commit suicide. 73 percent of all suicide deaths are white males and 80 percent of suicides by firearms are committed by white male. The highest rate for suicide is white men over the age of 85._

_National Suicide Prevention week is held every September to coincide with September 10, which is World Suicide Prevention Day. The week was established in 1975 to raise awareness of suicide. The American Association of Suicidology said there are at least 4.6 million suicide survivors living in the United States. _

_More Iraq War veterans have died from suicide than have died from actual combat._


	42. Chapter 42

**Only the epilogue left. Thanks so much to dowlingnana!**

* * *

"_The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live." – Dr. Joan Borysenko, American physician_

* * *

_Tuesday, April 14, 2009_  
_7:45 a.m. – Forks High School_

There had been talk of scheduling a teacher in-service for the one-year anniversary of the Forks High School shooting so the students would not have to go to school. However, it had been decided in the interest of helping the students move on, the school day should proceed with small modifications. The students returned that Monday from the three-day Easter weekend, and it was obvious with the solemn tone that day what everyone was thinking about. Knowing how hard the anniversary would be for the surviving students, Mrs. Estevez had met with the teachers before school started Monday morning to inform them the day would not be a normal school day for the sake of the students.

Rather than meeting in homerooms, the entirety of Forks High School was scheduled to meet in the school quad that morning for a brief memorial service to commemorate the event and remember those they had lost. Following the service, the students would return to their home rooms for a brief period in which the teachers had been instructed to talk with them about how they were feeling or dealing with the anniversary. Classes would resume until fifth period, at which time Mrs. Estevez had scheduled a school-wide assembly to again talk about bullying, recovery and what was in store for the future of the school. They would have their final class of the day as usual and then go home.

It was again another especially bright and surprisingly sunny morning in Forks. Everyone in town seemed to know what the day was; though the weather had a cheerful air to it there was an overall solemn attitude that seemed to envelop the town. Charlie Swan was driving his daughter to school that day and had begrudgingly agreed to let her boyfriend take her home. The members of all the first responder groups that had come to the school that morning had been invited to the memorial ceremony and Charlie had practically mandated his entire department who should be there. Most of them had agreed easily enough. There wasn't much conversation between himself and Bella as he drove. She seemed lost in her own thoughts, staring out the passenger window as they rode along. It was hard for him to think about it, but that September she would be starting her classes at the University of Washington a four hours' drive away in Seattle. She hadn't settled on a major yet, but had informed her parents she was slightly torn between English and education.

Edward Cullen would be going to UDub too that fall. He had received early acceptance into the schools' coveted computer science program and only that morning had received his prospectus in the mail along with the important dates for when he could register for classes. He had looked over the packet with his parents during breakfast before realizing the time and quickly heading off to school. He barely made it to the door before turning around and giving both of his parents hugs goodbye. Carlisle had the day off work and would be spending it with Esme, who had been in a little bit of a depressive funk lately remembering the anniversary of the day she had almost lost her only child. They were going out to eat at the diner with the Swans that evening, and Edward hoped his mother was in better spirits by then.

Though they were both saddened that their son would be leaving the home in a matter of months, both Carlisle and Esme were glad he would start out his semester at UDub. With some friends, Jasper and Alice had both been accepted to UCLA in the fall, he studying history and her fashion, but Rose and Emmett would be accompanying a large portion of the Forks High senior class to Seattle. Emmett had scored a much coveted football scholarship and place on the Huskies. He would most likely be warming the bench his first year, but the coach thought he had some definite potential. The football scholarship and other scholarships Edward had helped Emmett attain as a first-generation college student would more than pay for Emmett's tuition, room and board as long as he managed to keep his grades up. Rose herself was going into the pre-med program and had been planning out her classes and researching possible textbooks since she received her acceptance letter that February. She was already planning on possible internships at hospitals there and had been particularly drawn to programs at Seattle Children's Hospital. It was easy to say that Rosalie Hale had done the most future planning out of any of her circle of friends.

When Charlie and Bella arrived at Forks High School, most of her friends were already gathered at the quad waiting for the ceremony to begin. Emmett and Rose were standing close to each other, chatting with Jasper and Alice, who were holding each other's hands rather tightly. Edward came rushing up to the group at the same time Bella and her father did. Edward, Chief Swan and Emmett exchanged some smiles and jokes before Charlie headed over to meet with the rest of his department over by where Mrs. Estevez and her staff were standing. Ms. Cope was to the principal's right, wearing a big sunflower pinned on her jacket. She had been greeting a lot of the students and received hugs and words of thanks from a lot of the first responders who had come to the ceremony. She even took a picture with the EMS crew who had transported her as they were very relieved to see her up and living her life to its fullest.

"It's hard to believe it's been a full year," Rose sighed.

"Yeah," Bella agreed. "Sometimes it feels just like it was yesterday."

"There's a lot more people than I'd thought would be here," Emmett admitted. "I mean, outside of the school. I didn't think the whole town would really turn out… especially since the quad is so small."

"I'm just glad there aren't as much news people here as I thought there would be," Jasper sighed. The group nodded their affirmation, having also noticed the only cameras and media people were from either local or state outlets rather than the many national outlets that had turned out during the initial incident.

"Yeah, keeping it small was a good idea," Edward agreed. "I know they're doing something at the hospital today too since most of them couldn't get off work. Of course, Dad's off today."

"Are any of you planning on going to the vigil tonight?" Alice asked curiously. They all shook their heads.

Since the shooting, Larry's parents had returned back to Louisiana but Royce's parents and Vicky's mother had decided to get together and plan their own community vigil at the park that night. They all still maintained their children hadn't been the bullies they had been made out to be by other students as well as the federal report issued on the shooting months before, which listed several bullying incidents ignored by Harold Greene as one of the major contributing causes to the shooting. Messages left on Jimmy's Facebook wall by his tormenters as well as messages his bullies had sent to each other over social media sites about Jimmy had been hacked by a couple of Internet gossip and entertainment sites, painting a less than stellar picture of some of Forks High's brightest and most beautiful a few weeks after the federal report was issued.

Vicky's family in particular had received some anonymous hate mail as a result, making the incident even uglier. Things only escalated when Mrs. Katz was only sentenced to 300 hours of community service and two years' probation for encouraging the cemetery vandalism. The charges of giving alcohol and drugs to minors had been dropped as there was no evidence other than hearsay that Mrs. Katz had actually been the one to put them in the students' hands. Despite the lack of punishment, the damage had been done. Mrs. Katz lost custody of Serena to her husband and would be moving out of Forks following the vigil. She would be joining a long list of victims' families who had chosen to flee the town. With Larry's family gone, the Wells had also left Forks after Steve graduated while the Tanners, Marks, Banners and Richardson's had all left town at various intervals between Christmas and the start of the new school year. The Goff family also seemed poised to leave Forks as well as Mr. Goff said he and his children had a hard time driving past the school where his wife had lost her life.

"I think it's starting," Rose said as Mrs. Estevez took the podium, the school bell ringing to signal it was now 8 a.m.

Mrs. Estevez talked briefly, thanking everyone for coming and giving special recognition to the first responders who had all come out for the event. She also thanked her students for participating and told them she knew how difficult and heart-breaking the entire thing still was for them. She thanked them for coming out to participate and honor their fallen classmates and asked them to support each other in their grief and recovery. Then, just as the clock struck 8:06 a.m., she ordered the gathered group to observe seventeen minutes of silence for the length of the massacre. As they listened to the faint sounds of birds' overhead and traffic on the nearby road, the assembled group seemed to feel as one that the seventeen minutes of the year before had felt much quicker than these seventeen minutes of silence.

Rose sniffled and Emmett wrapped a comforting arm around her, allowing her to bury her face into his chest as she didn't want anyone to see her crying. Bella bit her lip and gazed sideways at Edward, who was awkwardly shifting his weight from one foot to the next. She slipped her hand into his and squeezed it tightly. Alice glanced over to find Jasper, her sweet strong Jasper, with streaming, silent tears cascading down his face. She threw her arms around him, allowing him to bend down and quietly sob into her shoulders. Alice looked up briefly to find Mrs. Estevez and Ms. Cope holding hands, leaning on each other for support. Charlie Swan wiped tears out of his own eyes and then put his hands on the shoulders of two of his officers, some of the first to help escort wounded students out of the building.

When the moment of silence was over, the entire group seemed to breathe a collective exhale of relief, as if they were releasing all of the emotion and grief they had been holding in for the past year. When the program began again, Bella was surprised to see her father step forward and make a special presentation to Shelley Cope. Over the course of the year, the town council, various EMS departments including the Forks PD and other groups had honored Shelley Cope for her bravery. She had received a bravery award from the police department and fire department as well as a key to the city and several other items. Today, however, Charlie presented her with a medal for bravery usually reserved for officers in Washington State as well as some flowers. He then turned the microphone over to a teary Ms. Cope.

"I just did what I had to do," Ms. Cope said. "My students are like my children. I love you all."

With that, the Forks High Chorale launched into a song they had been rehearsing. When the song was completed, Mrs. Estevez said a few more words and then dismissed students to their homerooms. There were brief conversations and reminiscences of classmates in home rooms for the appointed meeting period before classes resumed. Everything proceeded as usual until the scheduled school assembly following lunch, where Mrs. Estevez had recruited a motivational speaker to talk to the school about bullying as well as recovery from the incident they had all experienced. The freshman class was a little rowdy at first, but they were soon calmed down by the reproachful looks they received from the upper classmen who had been first-hand witnesses to the tragedy.

Few teachers chose to teach during the final period of the day, rather allowing students to decompress from the day's events by talking amongst themselves or watching film strips. When the school day was over, the Forks Community Center had opened up for public counseling sessions in addition to the session that had been conducted for student groups for nearly a year. Heading toward his own counseling session, Edward noticed that there were a lot more people in the parking lot coming to attend the session than he had anticipated. He was glad to find a parking space himself and could hear the groups milling about in the community center's gym and upstairs rooms as they waited for the impromptu counseling sessions to start. Meeting up with Emmett and Rose in the hallway, Edward followed them down the stairs and into the classroom where the majority of their group had already gathered with Tia for their session. Tia didn't waste any time and quickly launched into the day's topic for discussion.

"Well, before we begin today, I would just like to tell you all how proud I am of all the progress you have made in the past year," Tia said. "I am sure today has been difficult for you all in various ways, but you have all moved forward in the past year and that is important for each of you to remember. Now, I'm sure you've all probably guessed what we are going to talk about today. I just want all of you to share your feelings about today. Who wants to start?"

"I think I'll go first," Jasper said, surprising just about everyone as he usually preferred to sit back and let everyone else talk before he was comfortable enough to talk about his own feelings.

"Go ahead," Tia prompted.

"Well… I honestly didn't expect today to be as hard as it was," Jasper said. "I guess I thought because I've been working so hard to move on and to go back to living my life without thinking about what happened every day that it would be much easier to deal with today than it was. I mean, I'm glad they had the memorial and that I went to it. That really gave me a chance to see I'm not the only person who is still struggling with it. I guess I just didn't realize how much it still affects me. I'd like to think I'm fully recovered or healed or whatever, but I'm starting to realize this isn't something you get healed from. It's something that becomes a part of you that you learn to live with. I just have to choose whether I'm going to live with it as something that makes me a better person or live with it as something that consumes me and prevents me from going forward. As strange as it may sound, I think I'm in a better place now then I was a year ago, that I've learned to open myself up to people more. I don't think what Jimmy did was necessary by any means, but it really has helped me come into my own, to learn about myself and other people. It was a horrible thing, but it would be even worse if I didn't take something positive from it and learn from it."

"I think it was nice we had a memorial," Emmett said. "But I don't want people to go so far overboard that they focus so much on memorializing what happened and not on moving forward and learning from it, like Jasper said. I know it may seem callous that there are still times I just want to forget everything that happened, but I know it's not possible. Anyway, I think it was good that we all got a chance to be together and support each other. I know this was a hard day for a lot of people, and I think it was good to show that we're coming together, especially for those that would have had a much harder time of it today if they didn't have anyone else to lean on."

"It's still hard for me to realize it's been a full year," Rose said. "I mean, it is just an arbitrary date on a calendar, but it doesn't feel like it's been that long. I think today was important for the community more so than me as an individual since I wasn't a direct witness or anything, but I do hope we can use this as a starting place for recovering and moving on with a lot more empathy for one another."

"It was hard, especially at the beginning of today," Alice admitted, "but I'm glad the school decided to end things on a positive note for us at the assembly. I know it's important that we remember what we've lost, but I think it's more important to give us a sort of hope for the future. I don't want to go on reliving that day for the rest of my life. It will also be an important part of my life for better or worse, don't get me wrong, but I like being able to feel like something good can all come of this. And I think today was a good example of how our school is moving away from the old mentality toward bullying and how students treated each other into a new mindset about being respectful toward each other."

"Today felt really cathartic for me," Bella said. "It was sort of like all the air being slowly let out of a big balloon I thought was going to pop. I know that sounds weird, but I guess what I mean to say is I found today a little anticlimactic. I don't know what I was expecting, but I kind of went to bed last night with some sense of dread like the events of last year would repeat themselves or something. Anyway, I just want to move on from this and be happy."

"I know remembering is important, but I kind of want to really look forward to the future now," Edward said. "I kind of want to stop being sad about everything and be able to start thinking about college and having fun with my friends and stuff. I don't want to feel guilty about not feeling bad any more. And I think today was a start toward that. You want to move forward with your life, but you don't want anyone to think you're forgetting what happened, I guess. I just feel that enough crappy stuff has happened. I want to start thinking about the good things I get to enjoy from now on."

"I think today was an important part of our grieving process," Angela said. "And I agree with everyone else about being ready to move on."

"Yeah," Ben said. "We've been in mourning long enough. We deserve a chance to get to go on with our lives and look forward to things. I think we all more than deserve a chance to be happy."

"I miss my sister," Alec said. "I always will. Being twins… it's like being a half of a whole and I guess I'll always feel that loss. But if the roles were reversed and if it were Jane sitting her rather than me, I don't think she'd want to wallow in it for ever. I deserve to get out there and do better for both of us. I mean, it would be a terrible way to honor her memory if I just spent the rest of my life grieving. I need to get out there and be doubly good for both of us."

"I feel the same way about Jess," Whitney said. "Even though she isn't gone… it's like a big part of her is. I want to prove that there's good in the world, and I guess the best way I can do it is by going out there and making it happen myself. I still wish Jess got a chance to learn from all this… to recover and go on and life a fulfilling life… but the important thing is I get a second chance to have my cousin, even if it's a lot different than I originally hoped. I don't want to lose sight of or take for granted what chance I've been given."

"If anything from all this I've learned a lot more about choosing my friends," Dean said. "And what I need to look for in the type of people I surround myself with."

"So, you all feel you've learned something but you all also want to move forward," Tia nodded. "I know there is a range of guilt you all feel, but you can't be held back from that. There is no need to feel guilty or feel guilty that you don't feel guilty. I think it's important for you to all focus on what good things you can do with your life now and achieving those goals. It's the best way to adjust to your new normal. And I wish you all the best in that."

* * *

**End Note: **  
_An estimated 70 percent of American adults or roughly 223.4 million people have experienced some sort of traumatic event in their lives. Of those, 20 percent will develop post-traumatic stress disorder, meaning 31.3 million people are currently dealing with PTSD._

_African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans are more likely to develop the disease compared to Caucasians. Women are twice as likely to develop PTSD following a traumatic incident than men. The disorder is highest in combat veterans. One in every five military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan has PTSD. Suicide rates among these returning veterans are up 80 percent._

_According to the National Center for PTSD, the rates of PTSD are much higher in children or adolescents than adults. Studies have shown up to 100 percent of children who witness a parental homicide or a sexual assault will develop PTSD. 90 percent of children who themselves are sexually abused and 77 percent who are exposed to a school shooting will suffer from PTSD. 35 percent of urban youth exposed to community violence will also develop PTSD._


	43. Epilogue

**This is it. Thanks to dowlingnana!**

* * *

_It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. – E.E. Cummings, American poet_

* * *

_Saturday, April 14, 2018_  
_Forks High School_

Jasper honestly wouldn't have gone to the memorial service if Alice hadn't insisted upon it. She was already planning on them going to Forks for their ten-year reunion that October, but she also had wanted to go to the memorial service. It was hard for Jasper to think it had been ten years already. He had finally relented. He could never refuse Alice anything for long. And besides, Peter would be coming in with Charlotte for the weekend as well. Somehow, his brother had found time to get married and pop out four kids in the past ten years. It would be a good time for the entire family to get together for a while, which he knew his parents would be looking forward to.

Then there would also be a chance to see all of their old school friends. Bella and Edward were living in Seattle now, he working for some high-powered tech firm and Bella had taken a job as a kindergarten teacher. However, she was out of the classroom these days, preferring to work as a stay-at-home mom and take care of the two newest additions to the Cullen family. From what Jasper saw on Facebook, Dr. and Mrs. Cullen were frequent visitors to the city as were Charlie and Renee Swan. The two kids also enjoyed plenty of visits to Forks and overnight stays with both sets of grandparents. Their oldest, a son, was a good mix of both his parents, but the younger one, the daughter, was all Bella.

Emmett and Rose had stayed closer to home. Emmett had almost turned pro, but an injury during his senior year with the Huskies football team had benched him for life. Thankfully, he had been smart enough to get a business major and fell back on that. He had moved back to Forks after school and turned his parents' small inn into a big, money-making resort for the town. Rose had stayed in Seattle for med school but once she graduated had become the new OB/GYN for the town of Forks. Dr. Ellis had handed his practice over to her slowly as he went into semi-retirement and Rose was a frequent face seen at Forks Community Hospital now. The two of them hadn't had any kids yet as Rose was trying to get more established in her practice before she had any babies of her own.

Alice had been planning all sorts of things the group of friends could do together for the week they were in town, though Jasper had to remind her that the others did have lives, jobs and families they couldn't drop completely. They had opted to fly in from San Francisco rather than make the thirteen hour drive. They would then drive the four hours to Forks and spend the night at Alice's parents' house since Jasper's parents already had their rooms filled up with Peter and his brood. While Alice had planned out the entire trip, Jasper was the one who found himself wrangling the family through the airport.

Jamie took after her mother – easily distracted and wanting to see and talk to everyone in the airport. Luckily, Riley was more like his father had been at that age: shy, quiet, and clinging to his parents pant legs. Alice managed to not only work as a successful fashion buyer for a series of upscale boutiques but also managed to keep their four-year-old daughter and two-year-old son corralled. Jasper managed to keep up with the kids as well, coaching Jamie's little league soccer team when he wasn't busy working as a researcher and curator at the California Historical Society Museum in San Francisco. Alice and Jamie were both pulling identical floral print suitcases while Jasper was trying to get Riley to pull his own tiny Mickey Mouse suite case instead of focusing on picking his nose. Jasper was just glad that Alice had taken it upon herself to drive the four of them into the city.

Jasper found it hard to believe the kids let them get a whole night's sleep and awoke well rested the next morning. After a quick breakfast, he and Alice left the kids with her parents and then drove the short distance to the high school where the memorial ceremony was set to take place. The school hadn't changed that much on the outside; though looking through the inside showed several major renovations had taken place in the past ten years. It was while taking a look at the new library that they ran into Edward and Bella. After squeals and hugs, Alice and Bella started showing off the various pictures of their kids on their phones and planning an outing to the park together the next day. Jasper was surprised to see how Edward Cullen had filled out since high school, gaining a lot more muscle mass to his once lanky frame even though the square framed glasses still remained firmly in place. Jasper himself had ditched the Goth look in college but had never completely given up his Pacific Northwestern inspired flannel and ripped jeans.

Edward soon brought him over to where Emmett was catching up with some football buddies. Emmett invited Jasper and Alice over for a barbecue that night at the inn he was hosting. Edward and Bella had already agreed to go and Alice was eager to go as well. Emmett then proudly brought everyone over to "my wife, the doctor" and expounded upon the success of Rose's medical practice while she merely blushed. It turned out Rose had even delivered Bella and Edward's daughter as the baby had arrived four weeks early when they were visiting in Forks for the Fourth of July. Bella was apparently trying to convince Edward to telecommute so they could move back to Forks and be closer to their families and friends. Jasper was sure Alice would be thinking the same thing by the end of the weekend, though there weren't as many opportunities for their very select fields in the small town.

The memorial service itself was hard. It was odd looking out at the faces of their classmates who were frozen as teenagers while the rest of them had aged ten years. Ms. Cope was a little bit older now though hardly frail. She had retired from her position as the school secretary three years before and now was very active in the local senior center. Mrs. Estevez was still the principal though many of the teachers had retired or moved on to other schools. Bella knew it wouldn't be long before her father retired as police chief, wanting to spend more time at home and hopefully with his grandchildren if he could convince Edward and Bella to move back home. It was odd to Jasper to see how many of the current students had come out for the celebration, even though most of them probably didn't remember much of that day.

Alice waved to Whitney, who was wheeling Jessica up toward the front. Whitney had a family of her own while Jess hadn't changed much since she was released from the hospital. Mr. and Mrs. Stanley were with their daughter and helping wrangle Whitney's twin girls. Lauren Mallory wasn't there, but the rest of the survivors were. Mrs. Estevez even made them come up to the podium, praising them all as survivors. Jasper could tell Edward and Emmett were just as embarrassed as he was to be honored as shooting survivors. It was hard enough dealing with the fact that he was surviving life to even think about what could have happened ten years ago if Jimmy had just aimed the gun the wrong way. Alice hugged him extra fierce when he finally came down off the podium. When the ceremony was over, the group had gathered in the parking lot to discuss their plans for the rest of the weekend.

"You guys wanna come back to our place for some burgers?" Emmett suggested. "You can feel free to bring the kids over and stuff…"

"That sounds nice," Bella nodded.

"I'm sure my parents would like to catch up with everyone," Edward said. Jasper looked to his wife shyly.

"We'll be there a little later," Alice said. "Jazz and I have to make… a pit stop before we go anywhere…"

"You guys want anyone to come along?" Rose asked, having a guess where they were going.

"It's fine," Jasper shrugged. "We can manage, but thanks for offering."

"You sure," Edward asked.

"Yeah. You guys go ahead," Jasper nodded. "We'll catch up with you all later."

Alice offered to drive and Jasper was glad, not exactly wanting to be behind the wheel as they headed up the old familiar stretch of road. They knew there would probably be other families there at the cemetery that day since it had been ten years since so many had lost so much. Apparently, however, most of them had chosen to go to lunch following the memorial service at the school which relieved Jasper. Alice grabbed the small bouquet of daffodils she had picked up that morning for the occasion before taking her husband's hand and letting him lead them both into the cemetery. It was a bit of a walk to the long-forgotten spot but at least the groundskeeper was still keeping that part of the cemetery nice and clean. There weren't any other arrangements or evidences of other people coming by to pay their respects at the gravesite like at many of the others around the cemetery, but Jasper had decided long ago finding nothing there was much better than finding out the site had been desecrated.

Alice took the bouquet of flowers and spread them all evenly out over the graves. She held her husband's hand, squeezing it tightly and allowing him to press a soft kiss on her forehead. They came here every time they came back to Forks, but the visits had not gotten easier for Jasper over the years. One day Jasper would probably bring up the suggestion of bringing Jamie and Riley there. Alice didn't think she could say no if her husband requested it. She hugged her husband tightly then backed off.

"I'll give you a few minutes alone, okay?" Alice said.

"Sure," he smiled, allowing her hand to slip from his. With Alice gone, Jasper looked up at the sky and then back down where his friend had been resting for the past ten years.

"They had the memorial today," Jasper said. "It was rough. You know, if you hadn't done this I could be planning to come here and hang out with you as part of our high school reunion. Our kids might even be able to play together… I wish you had a chance… a chance to see that things would get better. That just because you were being held back didn't mean things would never happen for you… I wish a lot of things for you…"

He sighed, cleared his throat and continued.

"Jamie's four now and Alice is thinking about putting her in preschool," Jasper continued. "She doesn't want her out of the house, but she knows she needs to get used to being around other kids. She's really spunky, our Jamie. Bright and sweet and loud… just like her mama. And Riley… I guess he's more like me. He's shy and quiet… and he's a thinker, you know? He daydreams a lot. Honestly… I see a little bit of you in him… you'd think that would scare me, but it doesn't. I wish you could have had a chance to meet them… I think you would have been a great dad if you'd given yourself a chance. You always took better care of Morgan than I'd ever seen anyone take care of a kid…"

He could hear the sound of a car starting up in the parking lot, reminding him that he and Alice had somewhere to be for lunch.

"Anyway, I did promise you that I'd live for the both of us, and I intend to hold to that," Jasper said. "I have to keep going right on living. I just hope that one day I'll live in a world where no one feels all caged up like you did… and I hope my kids never feel like you did… that they'll always know I'm here for them. I owe it you, I suppose. I just wish you had seen it yourself."

With a final look over his shoulder, Jasper headed back down the trail and to the parking lot where Alice was waiting in the car, the radio on full blast and talking on her phone to her parents, trying to coordinate a way for them to bring the kids to Rose and Emmett's place. With a big smile, she said goodbye over the phone and then snuggled up to her husband as he put his key in the car's ignition.

"You okay?" Alice asked him curiously.

"Yeah," Jasper smiled, kissing her hand. "I think we're both going to be just fine."


End file.
